Dear Pogue,

It is December and the world around us has turned it’s focus, wholeheartedly, towards Christmas. That is, unless you have been shopping in some of our mainline supermarkets where Christmas starts around the 1st October and continues until the beginning of Easter which I think is now the 2nd January.

And that’s a thing isn’t it?

Christmas has long become the the purview of aspiring company executives where the possibility of profit is too great to be ignored. That at every turn a few coins have to be wrung out of the experience. And we merrily oblige, hence the permission to commence Christmas as soon as summer begins to wane.

So Christmas has become something it was never intended to be and we can blame the store owners and Amazon. But the truth is that we have long been turning Christmas into something other than what it is. Just track back through the many stories that have been written to enhance the day, stories that date back hundreds of years. The word Christmas is but a springboard to a greater, unrelated tale that we continue to write. A tale that now needs films, usually romantic, packed with magic and improbable characters to tease our imaginations. The feel good factor is worked to exhaustion. But why?

And the truth is we need to fill our lives with the escapism that the occasion has now been engineered to offer. We need to drift into the possibilities of romance, the magic of elves and ‘other worlds’. Of happy endings wrapped in warm winter coats and scarves, happy laughing children (well behaved of course) and lovers. We project a world of escapism into the event.

Why?

Well, because we need something that takes us away from the every day, the mundane, the pain, the repetitive and we need to believe in a better world. Think. For those of us fortunate enough to live in a world without conflict, with a roof over our heads, food in the cupboard (and beer in the fridge 😊) we grasp at the chance to escape the world of ‘rinse repeat’ where each day is a copy of the previous with small aberrations. We need hope. Hope in a better world, a world of possibilities and there we reach out and hang our hats. For many it is all escapism. An alternative world, a shift of realities, a happy place. And if this brings some relief into our lives is it wrong? You tell me. Reality is so often a harsh cold place to which we need to bring our own warmth. And we, you and I, are the one’s who have the rudiments of comfort in our lives!

So, what hopes are you projecting into Christmas this year? Me, it’s a warm log fire, a cozy armchair and a good book. Simples. No elves or reindeer for me. Far too messy!

Yours, seeking a little reality,

Wic.