My son dutifully came to visit me for Christmas. He could have visited his girlfriend’s family, or she could have come here, but I suppose they aren’t quite ready to holiday together. He has recently turned vegetarian, and so we made some tasty, spicy, healthy, alternate meals from gingerbread pancakes to a spicy Indian simmer, and homemade tofu. The animals got full bowls that had fresh fruit, veggies, and eggs on top of the usual, mundane fare. We worked on a picture frame for his present to said girlfriend, and learned some joinery and played with combinations of finishes, including staining tannins with iron, India ink, and french polish. We also had some good significant conversation, as we often do when together.
But we did all this while wearing N95 masks and usually at least 6′ apart with large noisy fans on. So, we managed to have a very Christmassy Christmas- for us. Two Atheists who use it as a reason to gather and appreciate.
The Holiday wasn’t without the larger weight of the costs of the pandemic. We each know families that it has ripped through and feel a profound confusion and even anger at the people who ignore restrictions. Breaking quarantine while contagious, running about without masks then visiting ailing elders. There is a moral equivalency to manslaughter that we cannot seem to shake, and are left wondering how this behavior will weaken and in many cases terminate once enjoyable friendships. We didn’t talk about this a lot, some.
Plagues happen, and are horrible biological entities. However, the magnitude of COVID has been exacerbated by individuals who are cherrypicking conjured, unsubstantiated fictions while operating in their synthetic universe. Children know that Pokemon, Ninja Turtles, Barbies, and Batmen that populate their imaginary universes are just that, imaginary. And when they are called to chores, supper, school, etc, they may bring their clutch and long to maintain a tether to their imaginary world, but barring psychosis, they know which information set is real. There has been some fundamental malfunction of culture leading to the massive embrace of a fictional narrative that is accepted so widely and so unquestioningly. I sure hope the sociologists study this hard. I suspect it’s the same cause as Naziism, and the birth of cults. It can’t all be blamed on the figureheads. There will always be power-thirsty sycophants. A malfunction of culture must render large blocks of people vulnerable to this. We must accept personal responsibility to our vulnerability to this insanity in order to prevent it, and we’re a long ways from that.
Well, golly, that Merry Christmas post sure derailed! I do hope everyone had the warmth of family and friends in some way, even digitally or if just by thought. And that they found a place of Peace to enjoy the day. Merry Christmas!