I’m not embarrassed to admit it.
I love the feeling of Christmas …
the decorations, the trees all dressed in their finery, the shops all fitted out for the season, the movies, the songs (I have them playing while I write this),
I even collect Santa Clauses, I have them from the places we have visited on our overseas travels
I love the idea that the legend of St Nick has roots all over the world
And yes, I also have a nativity scene.
I was talking with a client recently and we were discussing Christmas. She was bemoaning the fact that Christmas in Australia just didn’t feel like Christmas – because Christmas is not meant to be hot.
You guessed it, she comes from the northern hemisphere.
My mother complained about Christmas not feeling like Christmas for the 44 years she lived here.
Even people who were born and bred in Australia complain that Christmas just isn’t the same any more, and then go on to blame all sorts of things for the reason why.
So it would seem that Christmas just isn’t like it used to be – no matter where you were born.
Change … it’s the way of the world!
Christmas isn’t the same as it was when I was a child and
it’s not the same as it was when my children were young
It has morphed to accommodate the changing times in our family
My children have grown and now have children of their own
My children no longer live with us
They no longer crawl into our bed on Christmas morning hyped up on the excitement of what Santa has brought
Huge changes and I have had to a learn to deal with it, even if it’s been a challenge.
But I believe the main reason Christmas disappoints us year after year is because we are trying to recapture Christmas the way it was when we were a child.
We are trying to grab hold and relive the magic, the wonder, the anticipation, the pure unadulterated joy that we felt when we were five years old.
When we believed in Santa Claus, we believed in magic, we believed in miracles. Before we became disillusioned by the drudgery of the truth.
This is why we love the fairy lights, the decorations, the carols, the kids Christmas movies because for just a few moments we can grab it again, we can feel it, we can remember the magic of believing that anything was possible!
I know one thing for certain after all these years …
I believe in magic 
And as I told my daughter when she asked me all those years ago …
I believe in Santa Claus 
this the Santa Claus that started my collection (it’s all about their faces)
