Filled with the spirit of...something...

"It is required of every man,that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to wander through the world-oh, woe is me!-and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness." - Dickens, A Christmas Carol

The holidays mean something different for everyone. For me it is generally an experience in trying to find a balance between loathing materialism and overindulgence in the joyous act of giving and receiving.
Also, taking a day to cook glorious amounts of food and be with Joe....to just be.

One of my favorite first lines of a book belongs to A Christmas Carol..."Marley was dead: to begin with"... Dickens is an absolutely brilliant writer and I think he captures it best when allowing the three ghosts to convince Scrooge that he should use his mind and body...his spirit, to the best of his ability. To savor life, to make and build rewarding friendships and to build a loving family. Frankly, I do not think it has anything to do with Christmas, it has to do with being alive and 'using well the days.'

Perhaps though, we need a gentle reminder; for some that is found in the celebration of the birth of Jesus, for others in the festival of lights, for others in choosing a noble fir and adorning it with baubles and other shiny things, even still, for others it is about the giving and receiving of gifts, or Chinese food or working a lousy shift at the movie theater...no matter which, the holidays are...in some way...sacred.

"I should have liked, I do confess, to have had the lightest license of a child and yet been [adult] enough to know its value..."