tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post8500755337992418283..comments2024-03-26T10:26:51.288-04:00Comments on Jim Leff's Slog: The Deeper Implications of Holiday BluesJim Leffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00007232702717055047noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-8799529862047102092011-12-29T11:29:44.924-05:002011-12-29T11:29:44.924-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Patricia Gayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14670765584433873533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-77829101172029787062009-12-27T16:49:17.069-05:002009-12-27T16:49:17.069-05:00Thanks for posting!
No, I really didn't have ...Thanks for posting!<br /><br />No, I really didn't have holiday blues. The point I was trying to make was that I had a wonderful, relaxing night, which was punctuated by an interesting mental phenomenon. If I'd steeped in it, it would have made me miserable. I didn't. Instead, I steeped in what was actually happening. Which was lovely. <br /><br />And that was the point of my posting. It wasn't really about Christmas....though, on the other hand, it was very much about Christmas. Only by killing the abstract notion of Christmas can one experience the joy and peace we otherwise strain to attain.<br /><br />You know what the Zen guys say you should do if you see the Buddha walking down the street!<br /><br />By the way, "killing" him is a mistranslation. Starchy academics resisted giving the true translation, which is that you should "shit on his head".Jim Leffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00007232702717055047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-47374013443888886692009-12-27T14:30:45.199-05:002009-12-27T14:30:45.199-05:00Sorry for your holiday blues. I have to say havin...Sorry for your holiday blues. I have to say having a family, even a small nuclear family, as well as some family specific traditions help give the holiday shape.<br /><br />In our case in tribute to my wife's Slavic background we have home made herring marinated with onions, oil, and just enough vinegar to give flavor, along with crepes and smoked fish and salmon caviar. In addition we read a retelling of E.T.A. Hoffmann's The Nutcracker help out. <br /><br />But I don't really disagree with your analysis about the illusion of happy idealized Christmasses. In fact, I think the more people try to do live up to that image the emptier the experience is likely to feel once it is over. My only criticism, is that by age 11 Christmas has become almost entirely materialistically focused on getting this or that. Thus my 12-year-old son is happy because he did get the game he asked for, as well as one he loves but did not expect to get. By contrast my 7 year-old-daughter just loved the whole Christmas experience. Sure she got what she wanted and was focused on opening presents, but she also deluded herself that there really is a Santa with reindeer leaving out cookies and "reindeer food." So while I would not recommend starting a family just to get over the holiday blues, I can say that a few rituals and a couple of primary school kids go a long way to making Christmas more pleasurable for every one.vhlivhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08014847502010321186noreply@blogger.com