Even retail therapy can’t take care of people who are struggling with a inner void! /sarcasm

People nowadays seems engage in social cocoon(s) among themselves than being neighborly or socially gregararious or reaching out socially to the given community.

What is like to be deaf in the 21th Century? Increasingly social and cultural isolation thru the excessive use of Internet and email correspondences. That’s what same happened with the emgerence of telephone in the first place. Many people constantly complain how intrusive and impersonal the telephone in their homes.

Robert L. Mason (RLM)

Thanks for the kind words…and if you or anyone learns something from my comments, that’s great!

Actually, I had wanted to post an apology - it seems that every time you post one of your blogs (which are always interesting and well-written), someone like me comes along and butchers the true meaning of the dang thing by going way off into left field with comments that have little to do with what you’re actually trying to say.

I’m sorry.

I do think that you have done us all a great service in reminding us that holiday season indeed isn’t always red and green…that many of us do struggle through this season - including yours truly.

While I do have cherished memories of childhood Christmases (including the time when I actually did receive a PONY for Christmas), as I have gotten older, I’ve lost much of that Christmas spirit. My grandparents - who were big celebrators of Christmas - have passed on, as has my father. My mother is battling terminal cancer, and naturally cannot and does not do much during the holidays. I’m single and pretty much on my own (no children or even neices/nephews), and honestly don’t maintain a strong relationship with my family any longer - part of the consequences of being the only deaf person in an all hearing family.

So yes…I do get those Christmas Blues. It’s not always easy to get through this time of the year.

And as you said, it’s not made any easier by how “insanely commercialized” it has become today. How and why has this happened?

Sigh…I wish I could provide a simple answer to that one. I think we as a society have become victims of our own success. And instead of appreciating where we have come in the last 25 - 50 years of relative prosperity, we have just turned into greedy, self-absorbed, gimme-gimme ********.

When we should be reaching out to others, we reach out to our computers instead. When we could be holding someone’s hand, we hold our cell phones and pagers instead. When we should be asking “how are you doing?” we ask “what can you do for me?” instead.

Are we truly better off?

Thanks for posting this very absorbing comment! I actually learned some things…

I would be interested in reading just how Christmas became the insanely commercialized holiday it is today. I feel that is one reason why Blue Christmas services started popping up because there is no real HUMAN interaction and goodwill, especially for those suffering from grief/loss.

On a side note, anyone got TMX Elmo I can buy off of? Winks.

I could not locate the particular Roman holiday celebration for the New Year’s Day in the fall. I will keep trying to find out where I get this material on the usual celebration for the beginning of new year due to the thanks for bountiful harvest.

I will try my best to pinpoint the source regarding the celebration of New Year on seasonal change, not during the wintertime.

So people could adjust their bodies during the seasonal change, etc.

RLM

My understanding of gift-exchanging is that while many people tend to believe it started with the Magi (the Three Wise Men) giving gifts to the Christ Child, historical documentation indicates that gift-giving began long before the time of Christ.

We do know that gift-exchanging was part of the Roman celebrations of Saturnalia, which was their festival of Midwinter, occuring around the same time as modern-day Christmas. In fact, many of the current traditions of Christmas can be traced back to this ancient festival.

The festival of Saturnalia took place for several days in mid-December, from around Dec. 17th to the 24th. It began with the public sacrifice of a young pig in the temple of Saturn (for whom this festival is named), and the exchanging of gifts such as candles - symbols of the eternal light which were known as cerei, and terracotta dolls known as signillaria.

At the same time, another Roman festival was the festival of Strenia, a woodland goddess - in which people would exchange branches cut from trees in a sacred grove, and which were thought to bring good luck.

Saturnalia continued to be celebrated up to the fourth century, when it was moved into January (as part of the adoption of the new calendar and the new date of the New Year, as mentioned above), and became part of the festival of Kalends, which is still celebrated in some format in parts of Europe. Kalends became the time of gift exchanging, and decorating the house with candles and greenery.

In fact, there are some cultures that still believe in giving gifts not on Christmas, but on Epiphany - the Twelfth Night - celebrated on January 6th.

I suspect that the concept of gift-exchanging actually started with the giving of “sacrifices” and the like to the ancient gods of Midwinter, in order to request and celebrate the return of the sun, which of course happens with the Winter Solstice on December 21st - after which the days start to get longer (i.e. the “birth of” or “return of” the sun). This wasn’t just a spiritual thing, it was also a matter of survival…depending on where you were located, this was a harsh time of the year, and these early peoples depended on that sun and the changing seasons for the very sustenance of their lives.

Over time, these gifts to the gods evolved into giving gifts to one another.

Hope this helps…the whole history of the Midwinter celebrations and how they have evolved over time is a fascinating topic! I just finished teaching an on-line course on this very subject…

I am not a Christian so I am curious how did the gift-exchanging start at X-mas time? I am sure this tradition did not start at that time when Jesus was alive or even shortly after he left. And what was the original purpose of gift-giving? Anyone know this history? Should be interesting!

Happy Holidays to everyone, by the way. Drive safetly during the New Year weekend!

Mookie, you seems know me personally. Why should I remove the God-given chest hair? If my hairy body really bother you. You ought to foot the spa or hair removal bill. Comprendo? I really feel very blessed to be a real man with hairy chest. You probably are jealous of me having the chest hair. LOL!

I never look down on guys, who do not have chest hair or urge them to get some chest hair. Everyone come beautifully in various body features. Nobody’s perfect! Smile!

Are we in the 80s again which the society at large fixate on smooth-chest guys? I rather go back to the 70s when the hairy chest consider very sexy. Same thing with the late 90s and present 2000s. Woofy!

Robert L. Mason (RLM)

I second Virginia — where did you get that information about the Romans?