THE fun and meticulous task of assembling the overall motif for the whole house whenever the month of December comes is, whether one likes it or not, already a Christmas tradition. As an inherent part of that said trad, on the first Sunday of the new year (or the day of the Three Kings as it is celebrated in the Christian world), everything Christmas-y is then taken down and secured back to their original hiding places. No traces of them left, if it could be helped. Therein ends this tradition which many refuse to take in as a chore.
One question has arisen within our household however. How come it is faster to pack up whatever we’ve taken out and used as Christmas decorations for the season? While it had taken for us all of two days to complete our “yuletidesign”, it had only taken forty-five minutes at the most, to return them all back to the cabinet. As if nothing happened. At least, that had been the idle topic for breakfast last Monday morning. And from that, more than a couple of “could be-s” had come forth, as part of the fam discussion.
Could be… we are all in a hurry to let go of this Christmas 21 and rush headlong into whatever 22 has to offer. Covid or not? Yup, in the gung-ho spirit of ‘bring it on’!
Or Could be… with so much work to do, let us clean up real quick so backlogs won’t nag us later. (A legit could be, that) And then, for most, could be… it is the beginning of the year folks! Let us clean the house for the Feng shui version of good luck!
Whatever ‘could be’ applies in your household, that discussion ends when all the decors have all been returned to their proper places. Then, with the Christmas holidays truly over and Jose Mari Chan finally back in his cave, it’s back to work for most people who have had the privilege to enjoy a brief vacation… even as it had been continuous work the working-class heroes in the person of medical front-liners, service providers, security guards and others (in case you noticed). This tells us that, while 2022 may freshly be like new start for some, it’s just one continuous loop for others. The rat race (as it has been popularly called way back then) has no definite finish line, and once one breathes out from the state of being a baby, the race is on for you.
Then alas, for the select few whom we might personally know, 2022 might as well be a “new” year, in the context of facing the uncertainty it brings, without a partner, a kin or a friend who has gone. This is a far cry from taking out Christmas decorations to liven up our December days, then packing them all up again once all is over. Our lost loved ones remain gone forever and all that the new years ahead can offer would be just memories they have shared with us. At this, with gritted teeth, the greeting of “happy new year” also means to say, ‘hang in there, kapit lang, we will win through’.
