So, its that time of year again, the christmas adverts are on TV (well they have been since September but lets ignore that for a second), the christmas lights have been switched on, the weather is getting cold…really cold, and wet (I live in Wales, its not unusual) and I’ve finally begun rehearsing christmas music.
I think Cardiff looks spectacular at this time of year. The lights are pretty but not overbearing, and the market has grown dramatically since I first moved here and now has a wonderful variety of homemade, unique gifts you can buy for your friends and family. When, and if, snow finally decides to fall, the atmosphere can become magically. I’ve never been surrounded by snow and it never stops me from doing what I need to do, just a light fall that covers the ground and adds a sense of festivity. Although Im not a fan of winter…I hate the cold, seeing Cardiff like this does make me appreciate how beautiful a place I live…even if only for a second before I begin to freeze!
This year, as always, I will be gracing Dorset for a short time. My grandparents have recently moved down from Hereford and so this will be my first christmas that I can remember spending with them, usually its just a phone call shortly after breakfast to thank them for gifts and wish them well! This year will also be the first year I don’t celebrate with my Gran, who passed away in February. Our christmas tradition, since we were young, was to spend boxing day with my Gran and Aunt and open our second stocking, as Santa always left us one up there aswel. This year, however, I will be driving back to Cardiff on boxing day, ready for a christmas wedding on the 27th!
Throughout this year I feel I have really begun to grow up and mature, and with the thought of being truly independent and out of college being very close, this christmas I’ve really begun to think about what it really means to me.
I have never been materialistic. I like opening presents as much as the rest of us do, but christmas for me means so much more than that. It is the one day a year that my family spends the entire day together. Me and my siblings have always been quite independent, we like to have our own space and generally get on each others nerves very quickly, but at christmas we put all of that aside and all get up reasonably early to open presents, play games, eat and just spend time with each other. Other the last few years I’ve also spent a lot of the day helping my mother out in the kitchen. I have come to appreciate what she does for the family, how much time and effort she puts into her food, and I have wanted to help, especially when I was vegetarian and she had to cook two meals.
This year may be the last year I spend christmas day with my family, I have been speaking with my boyfriend and been discussing what we want to do next year with the possibility of spending christmas day with one family and boxing day with the other, making this christmas even more special for me as it is likely that we will spend christmas day at his due to religious reasons. Although christmas is just a day, and you can make any day christmas, the fact that I may not be around my family on that day is daunting. It makes me feel grown up and it is a scary prospect. It makes me appreciate what I will have this year and know that, even if I am not there on the 25th, boxing day will still feel like christmas, because it will be with my family.
XxxX
Spirit and Sound 