lights of christmas

Understanding the celebration of the Yuletide season in time of difficulties

The “Christmas air” we all know and love is now supposed to be everywhere. By now, we all are expecting to hear, see, smell, and feel the holiday air. But for this year, something feels different. The atmosphere is filled with gloom, and Jose Mari Chan is nowhere to be seen nor heard. The blinding lights that once surrounded almost every house in the neighborhood barely even managed to fill one street worth of such. The children that we were used to hear singing songs while shaking their tin cans in all directions are now just inside their homes, scared at the fact that they might catch the thing that everyone is equally scared of right now.

This year definitely seems like one of the darkest Christmas times may have ever been, at least for our generation. In these tough times, we have a lot of questions running down our thoughts, and is one among the long list “Can we still celebrate Christmas and light up the tree of people with their smiles?” The short answer? Yes, we can, but it depends on how you’ll celebrate.

First Light: Socially Distant

We Filipinos are well-known for loving gatherings. May it be for an occasion, or maybe we just felt lonely and wanted to call up on our barkada or families to take the stress off from their bodies. It’s one or the other. But whatever our reason is, the fact that we love being with everyone, being the social creatures that we are, is just plain undeniable. For the holidays, this is when gathering up for Christmas gets really common. We all bring our favorite dishes on the table for everyone to enjoy for the Noche Buena, all while we wind up the rented karaoke and sing our hearts out.

The question arises from the recent pandemic that is occurring all over the world. COVID-19 has taken a huge toll on the whole world, with economies crashing, business closing down, and everyone having to take extra precautionary measures such as wearing masks, and the hardest ones for us Filipinos; social distancing and avoiding gatherings, may it be the small larga of our tropa or large, crowd-scale ones like concerts from our favorite singers getting canceled.

The closest thing we can do to not feel lonely and alone for Christmas is with the use of technology. There are a lot of platforms that offer instant communication and conference calls, so you can still feel your family and friends’ presence despite them not being physically there. As for the food, delivery services can offer you a delightful experience in the comfort of your own homes. Apps such as Foodpanda and Grab Food are definitely good go-to choices for those that want to have a mini Noche Buena with their Zoom buddies.

Second Light: Bans and Plans

While some families cherish the holidays in the comfort of their own homes while they eat together, some families usually decide to travel and go to countries with a colder climate such as Baguio or Tagaytay, or maybe even other countries like Japan, Korea, or European countries as it is more fun experiencing snow during the supposed to be winter time.

But for this year, things may have changed a little bit, or so much, depending on how you look at it. If we are already so scared to step out from their houses, what more would it be if they actually traveled miles, or rather, thousands of miles away from our precious doorstep? Although some of the travel bans that were once strictly implemented earlier this year are now being lifted, and as some businesses have opened once again, we still can’t forget the fact that there’s still that pandemic is still really far from over. There have been reports from other countries still going on occasional lockdowns, and even the situation here in our own country has not been getting better in almost any shape or form.

Since everything outside makes it so terrifying to even go out for a second, we have no choice but to stay inside the four corners of our houses and celebrate the holidays with what we have for now. This light may be dimmer compared to the rest, but it surely will still be able to light up.

Third Light: Darkness of the Blind Eyes

Let’s face it – COVID-19 isn’t the only problem that us Filipinos have encountered. We have faced devastating amounts of natural disasters throughout this year, such as volcanic activity from the Taal and Mayon volcanoes, and the two consecutive super typhoons; namely, Rolly and Ulysses. The worst part? The government basically turned a blind eye on anything that actually mattered.

A lot of houses were buried in thick layers of either ash from the volcanoes, or water which flooded not just the houses that were directly hit by the typhoon, but also from rivers that were filled up and dams which had to be released due to the typhoons’ devastating effects. Families’ homes can barely be recognized, and not all of them will be finishing this year complete, as some of their loved ones’ lives were lost due to the disastrous occurrences, mostly due to negligence.

For these occurrences, the first thing we must do is to ask the government for help. That’s the reason why they were given positions and seats anyway; to lead the country and guide them during situations like these. Filing petitions and letting them know of the ongoing situation which they should already be aware of for now are the best things that we can do, at least for now.

But for now, we only have ourselves and each other in these crises.

This brings us to the true spirit of Christmas – bringing everyone joy and happiness. Yes, we can’t celebrate Christmas just like the way we were used to be, as we don’t have that much due to the effects of this year’s happenings. But despite that, we can still brighten up the streets with smiles from everyone instead of the blinding, color-changing ones that we used to hang on our walls.

Take every opportunity to help, may it be from the usual donating of extra clothes or goods that you may have, or by joining fundraisers. You can even help them indirectly by making yourself aware of the happenings and informing those who aren’t, as such action can cause a domino effect of some sort, where the information is eventually relayed to those that can hopefully help.

Plugged In: All Lit Up

Many are having a hard time facing this new normal and all of the things that the trying times have against us. And with the fast-approaching holidays, we are faced with another challenge of making sure that the Christmas spirit is felt in the best way possible Stay at home, keep yourself and everybody else safe, and never forget to take action when necessary through every way that you can.

Together, we will be able to celebrate the holidays despite everything and end 2020 with a light that is from the smiles of everyone in the Christmas tree of us.