a good thing

Pretty Things

Christmas has become the most tiresome time of the year. I feel physically, emotionally, and psychically drained from the over commercialized holiday and the overt expectation from almost everyone that it's going to be the best Christmas yet. I never have the money for gifts and rarely have any idea of what to buy, so I've resorted to the very impersonal gift card, like cash but non refundable. I suppose there's a little bit of a manipulation there too. You don't expect someone to say, "oh wow, what were you thinking, I hate it." Actually, I taught my family years ago that I would say just such a thing and the better gift should always be the impersonal gift card or preferably cold hard cash. The only place I felt able to gather a little creative energy together was in the wrapping of my meager gifts. Originally, I wasn't going to wrap gifts at all but then decided to do some minimal wrapping, like tissue with a rubber band holding it together. Then I got the inspired idea, I thought, of inserting parts of plants into the wrapping. No blooms were used but leaves and berries. Needless to say it was completely overlooked and probably not understood by my clan but it was a good thing. Just wait, next year it'll be all the rage.

My Little Tree

Le Vrai Holidays

I can't believe it is Christmas time already! I'm really not prepared for the holiday season or any of its trappings. I think I've about had it with the over Christianizing of the season and the sappy Santa who may be always cheery but will still deliver coal to a bad child. The season is actually owned by the retail industry and is there chance to bring up profit margins that have been lagging over the year. It's a time to increase personal debt trying to keep up with the Jones's and please everyone around oneself. I don't object to someone wishing me a "Merry Christmas," because most people are not thinking about the birth of Christ anyway (Christ's Mass). What I object to is Christians trying to convince others that the holiday season is really about their spiritual practice and we should all remind ourselves of this and act accordingly. The birth of Christ, most scholars believe took place earlier in the year and only came to be celebrated in December to upset the winter solstice/Yule celebrations. In other words, by throwing the blanket of the birth of Christ over the winter solstice and Yule, the Christians have attempted to wipe out the earlier Pagan celebrations. They nearly succeeded. However, traditions as old as Pagan born are not so easily subverted. Suppressed, perhaps, but not gone. Many Pagan groups across the globe will be celebrating both the coming winter solstice and/or lighting of the Yule Log. Ultimately, it doesn't matter whether you celebrate as a Pagan, a Jew, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Native American, a Christian, or otherwise. The point is not to suppress all other spiritual paths under one but to celebrate now and at other times the creative spirit that has found so many paths leading to the same goal. Call it what you will... enlightenment, rebirth, saved... it's essentially the same concept.

Enjoy the holiday season whatever holiday you choose!

Children of Men

Last night I watched the film Children of Men and was mildly astonished. I had held off going to see the film when it was in the cinema, mostly due to the poor representation from the preview. Sometimes (Often) I wonder just what movie studios have in mind when putting a trailer together. Either the trailers reveal too much or they totally confuse the viewer as to what the story is actually about. In Children of Men, I thought the film was simply about infertility and the race to save the last pregnant woman alive, but it's much more than that. The film encapsulates so much of the angst and unsettled political climate in the world today, such as rampant terrorism, governments out of control, mass hysteria, and complete chaos. The lives of westerners today, especially here in the U.S., is very sheltered from the reality of life in most other countries and what a day to day existence is like in the presence of constant war. Westerners see it in the media and attempt to empathize with those suffering around the world, but the reality escapes most. For me, this film made that reality present and felt even though it is set in the future. The base story is that humans have lost their ability to propagate, but as the society ages and closes in on extinction, it becomes increasingly more violent. The entire educational system becomes unnecessary and all the people in that industry are out of work. Families disintegrate. Infrastructure begins to crumble as more people die off and there's no one left to replace them. When the pregnant woman is discovered, there are factions who see her as a savior and those who want to crucify her because they are afraid the hope she brings will destroy the chaos they've become accustomed too. Sounds familiar.

I'm no film critic but I highly recommend this film to anyone who is concerned about the world today and the impact of governments fighting for supremacy. I guess what I want to convey is that there's much more to Children of Men than just the base story. Also, there's a terrific documentary in the Special Features that is made up of various established philosophers and cultural critics giving their take on the world today, where it is going, what is affecting it, etc. over images of the decay taking place across the globe. It's really as fascinating on its own merits as the film is.