With Christmas coming just around the corner, the clock starts ticking for the preparations to be completed. Yet a whole scroll of tasks is yet to be ticked off: prepping the Christmas pudding, gathering the decorations, ordering gifts on time. Yes, it may be a pain in the neck to instil the festive spirit in your homes so think again. Is it worth the expense, time and effort to tick that grand shopping list when you can guarantee this with taking the time to get to know friends and family more? All the more so, it is one issue that we all promise to achieve but turns out to be that New Year’s wish that ultimately remains a mission impossible.
Whilst you may say that Christmas has been tailored to help others much of the time with the help of charities, there is clearly still a disturbing overriding theme of whole days spent in anti-social ways. There is nothing like sitting snug under the covers watching a movie and texting incessantly on a day of cheer and open arms. Not our average sort of Christmas of course but there is no escaping from the fact that this happens in most households in our area. Could there be anything worse than exploiting the generous existence of Christmas to take a day off for lazing about? I think not. Christmas is there for a reason that is to conserve your energy for making others beam with happiness. Nevertheless, Christmas day commemorates the day of Christ’s birth yet it is a thought that sits at the back of our minds. Miss Tabi expanded on the topic: “A lot of people would tend to focus more on consumption of gifts but mostly focus on themselves rather than others and offering to others when it comes to Christmas because it is mostly about pleasure rather than the idea of Christ which is what Christmas is about and they tend to push away from the religious aspects of Christmas making it more of a secular celebration.”
As demoralised as Christmas may seem on a small scale, it is also driven by commercialism. You will soon be bombarded with the sights of lights, sounds of Christmas carols and smells of mince pies. Shoppers will soon go into spending overdrive, and then stick their head in the snow when the debts amount to unimaginable extents wondering whether it is all really worth it. To be honest, as humans with unlimited desires, we seek for conditional happiness. Presents, presents and more presents! That is what most of us equate to true happiness but remember money does not buy you satisfaction. It is true. With texting allowing for communication in the virtual world, and drunkenness allowing for an easy way in to being more sociable, we really are making fools of ourselves by depriving ourselves of the real satisfaction felt from facing up to what we truly are like. Well, what better way to achieve this through a social gathering on Christmas Day and trying to empathise with others. Mathumeera agrees with the overconsumption occurring during this period in addition to, “how it leads to overconsuming food which needs to be addressed fast with growing problems such as obesity and unbelievable waste towards the end of the season.”
On that note, what do you see around you on Christmas? Do you see a Sutton brimming to the tip with rubbish spilling over: left-over turkey, mountains of brussels sprouts and tonnes of oil spilt about the place? This accounts for the many landfill sites wastefully filled up and the tonnes of air pollution released as a result of the carbon footprint placed on the food bought and then later going to waste sites. The festive feasts really can be a disappointment as it all well may be that a feast is only held for flaunt with an increasingly materialistic world. What is more, a whopping “£50m a year” is spent on “removing fat, oil and grease from sewer pipes” that have been left to ooze through the sink, the Guardian has cited. Disgusting.
With all this pessimism stemming from deep contemplation over previous years’ unsuccessful attempts to rejoice a time-honoured celebration, it should surely be clear to you now that we can hopefully always make Christmas an even more exhilarating time for everyone: respect all, empathise with all, be more honest and be more sensible with consumption. But, only time will tell with 2016 being one of the most busy years of the century so far with so many reforms. Just remember to keep calm and jingle all the way!
By Thuvaaraha Nagarajan, Nonsuch High School
