True meaning of Christmas

As I sit at my mom's computer in the attic-like room of her small house, I am surrounded by darkness, cold air, and snow gently falling outside. Mom is napping, Keith is wrapping Christmas presents, Chloe is napping and Sable is sitting pretty in a Christmas cape outfit on her cushiony dog bed. I hear the intermittent sounds of airplanes overhead, the only sound I hear besides my fingers clicking away at the keys on the keyboard in front of me. I feel somewhat sad that my brother isn't on the plane that I'm hearing above.

Yesterday I found the unpredictable winter weather here in Seattle fun and interesting. Today I just want to take some sort of revenge on Mother Nature, and then I realize it doesn't work that way. Alex was supposed to be coming in from Boston tonight. He called us late in the morning to say his flight plans were all screwed up. He was really mad (understandably) about the situation, but is apparently trudging through it with a perseverance that only the most 'stuck' traveler can muster...standing in line for hours to find some miraculous alternate flight plan to make it to Seattle for Christmas. Mom and I left shortly after his discouraging call, en route to Target for some final Christmas items.

As I roamed around the store and the inevitable pandemonium, I got to thinking about the true meaning of the holidays. I know I'm not alone when I question how many people grasp the deeper symbolism Christmas is supposed to represent. Somewhere in the holiday shuffle, the importance of it has become lost to commericialism and stress of having enough money to spend or "What do I get for so and so?" What about being with the ones you love? I've been going through the motions of buying Christmas presents, almost as if approaching a dreaded chore. Sure, I'm a thoughtful and generous person. I'm also a simple, non-materialistic person who doesn't need presents and conversely, I don't like to feel obligated to get them for others (which is the case with my extended family members this year). I would rather have the gifts of conversation, laughter, travel, and hanging out with some of my favorite people. The gifts of experience and memories, the things that don't have a shelf life or the ability to be re-gifted or returned with a store receipt.

As Mom and I commiserated about how the weather has created an unpredictable change to our plans for Christmas, I realized seeing my brother Alex is the only thing I've been looking forward to and the only thing I 'want' for Christmas. I'm not sure how it will play out. I am happy to know, however, that I am in the proud minority of society who can appreciate the true meaning of Christmas. Funnier still, considering I resonate with Buddhism over Christianity. But that's another story.