I am not religious and so once I grew over the age of thinking Christmas was just about Santa and the excitement of gifts and before I had children of my own to share the excitement with, I did spend time thinking about the meaning of Christmas and why it was important.
At school, I was in the choir and orchestra and the focus every year would always be the many Christmas concerts. We rehearsed and we prepared for Christmas from October and spent the weeks of December performing.
It was always a special time and so, even now it doesn’t feel like Christmas until I have had an opportunity to listen to carols if not actually having an opportunity to sing them.
At these concerts, the story of Christmas would always be told.
The story of the birth of a child bringing hope.
It struck me that most religions tell similar stories in the darker months of the year and at the start of a new year.
For me, the meaning of Christmas has always been about reflecting on the previous year, coming together, reconnecting with others who matter in your world, and hope for the future.
Since prehistory, we have marked the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere supposedly a symbol of the rebirth of the sun.
Humans have forever needed festivals and rituals, all our societies and cultures around the world are constructed around them. They create important moments for people to come together and to bond, to form new relationships, and to share in joy.
It is arguable that these moments in our lives are the most important, that they are what create the meaning in our lives.
Humans are the most sociable animal on the planet and whilst we may not need company all the time as a species we come together to learn and to share. We bond and we cooperate.
Our meaning comes from relationships, the important close ones we develop but also the seemingly less important ones; the smile of the stranger on the street, even when we are not aware of the impact we are having on others and even when we feel apparently alone.
In the UK, the Christmas season is a build-up, our festival is not conducted just on one or two days it is a ‘season’.
Typically, it begins for most around mid-November, it is as if we all know that before the year ends at Christmas, we need to make sure that we have got round everyone to reconnect.
This is important work it is when we all collectively work together to build and reinforce our bonds.
Whilst Christmas 2020 will not be the same the meaning still remains.
The combination of the story of hope for the future and the reconnection and reinforcing of our bonds with the people we know and care about in the world is what I will be clinging to this Christmas.
2020 has been a tough year for everyone. For me, it has been an opportunity to really reflect on some of this stuff and to properly appreciate the connections that I have.
Despite being someone who I thought liked my own company, I have missed family and friends.
I always thought that I didn’t like hugs, but I can’t wait for the opportunity to be able to celebrate with others and walk into a room full of people I know.
This year we have missed the opportunity to mark so many occasions, rites of passage, special birthdays.
I have not been able to attend weddings and funerals of people I love and have missed not only letting them know just how much they matter to me but sharing with others in their lives their specialness.
I don’t think 2020 has necessarily taught me something new, but it has certainly found a way to make sure that the values that I have for the connections that we make with each other are properly engrained in me, never to be taken for granted again.
Christmas is ‘canceled’ this year, but whilst we stay at home to protect one another, its meaning will not be lost.
To not be with others has been hard but the hope for our future for 2021 and beyond is not something that is lost.
My hope is not just that 2021 allows us to get back to handshaking, laughing, singing and hugging but that for the first time in a long time, we will collectively take the opportunity to allow ourselves to hope that when we do recover after this, we embrace all that we have missed and do build back better putting our relationships with others at the centre of all things.
