“Look, Charlie, let’s face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It’s run by a big eastern syndicate, you know.” -Lucy, A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
A Charlie Brown Christmas is my all time favorite Christmas show. It was on TV last night and I thought, “What a better way to celebrate this season than to have a quote a week from this great holiday cartoon?”
To start things off, we have gem from Lucy Van Pelt. The darling know it all characteristically had big ideas and a ton of misinformation. However, she came dangerously close to hitting the nail on the head with this one.
Christmas tends to be beautifully flashy, bright, colorful, and wondrous. It is a wonderful time to participate in and enjoy. Don’t miss that last part – enjoy. All the flashy in the world won’t feel good if it rides in on the back of stress and unrest.
There’s a great thing about this time of year – and any other time of year. We have a choice in how to run our lives. We can choose to remember why we enjoy this time of year, look forward to our personal traditions and celebrations, and forgo the massive stress factor.
Let’s start off December by remembering that we don’t need to participate more than we want in that “big eastern syndicate.” If that holiday frenzy it the part of the holiday that you look forward to, then, by all means, enjoy! But if it’s not, then let’s support each other in remembering what it is we do like, focus on the characteristics that do bring us joy, and spend our time doing those things that make this a memorable time of the year.