Anyone who knows me well knows that I love to travel. No place is too far, exotic or even expensive to escape my wanderlust eyes—not even the stress of travelling with a Nigerian passport phases me. In fact, the more difficult it is to get there, the more determined I am to be there! Of course, there is the persistent inconvenience that comes from travel as a hobby and working full time. Something has got to give and as far as I’m concerned, it’s definitely not the job : )
This is why I always look forward to holidays, specifically, December. For those of us that work 9 – 5 throughout the year, you know what those extra five compulsory days off work mean; when the office literally kicks you out and tells you to rest for a couple of weeks; it’s a Vacation! so what do you do? You whip out a map and see how you can take advantage of the time off.
I remember one particular year I couldn’t take a much-needed vacation because my office at the time did not ‘kick us out’, so I was stuck in Lagos with the Christmas crowd which majorly comprises of ‘I just got backs.’ I tried to make the best of the situation, especially considering it was one of the biggest holidays in Nigeria, but I just couldn’t connect with all that was happening around me, I didn’t feel very ‘Christmassy’, at all. The Christmas lights came up on the streets of Lagos, I felt a tinge of something. I attended service, that didn’t do it (God knows my heart!). Then I managed to shop for gifts – wrapping the gifts was actually a highlight, but the Christmas feeling still wasn’t fully kicking in.
I started to wonder what the problem was: Was it the economic crunch affecting my mood, or had I gotten so fixated with the idea of travelling over the holidays that I simply could not appreciate spending time with my loved ones? Thinking back now, it was most likely the economic crunch. Anyway, I was such a grump that year that my boyfriend, at the time, got me a present and I made him return it because I felt it didn’t suit me. When I think about it now, I feel so ashamed. I was so in my feelings that I did not think about all the effort that must have gone into getting the gift, and for men that actually make the effort, I can only imagine all the ‘wahala’ he must have gone through to get it right. I have since apologised, it’s water under the bridge.
I’m not sure why I am now fixated on that Christmas experience, but I have been thinking, as another Christmas approaches, what makes Christmas, Christmas? What is that one trigger that gets us into the holiday celebratory mode? Are we getting older, busier, more tuned out that spending time with loved ones has lost its sentimentality?
Thinking about past Christmases led me to a specific Christmas experience I am particularly fond of. It was Christmas 2004 when I still lived in the US. My older sister and I had just moved back to Miami (this was our original home) from Virginia and New York respectively. We had no furniture, no family around, and we couldn’t afford to buy presents. Yet we had the best time baking, goofing around and reminiscing about home (the irony!).
I want to go back to those simple days! I know, easier said than done when the world is drumming at you with goals and deadlines and bills to pay. Still, I am aware of the simple things that make Christmas happen in the real sense of the season, sharing and showing love just like Jesus did! Perhaps this is the biggest lesson I am drawing from all these memories. Don’t wait for external events to set the tone for your celebration, make your relationships count. Make Christmas count.
How do you plan to spend your holidays?
