Christmas without…

This year has been a very different Christmas for us. Until now, our Christmas has consisted of very recognisable English traditions: putting up decorations and a tree; baking festive fayre like mince pies and biscuits; many gatherings with friends and family; carol services, watching the latest cinema release; school nativities; visits to Santa; buying gifts and on Christmas Day itself stockings, opening presents, going to church, hosting (or being hosted by) family for the ubiquitous roast dinner (usually including turkey, even though I don’t particularly like it), opening more presents and finally collapsing in a small puddle of over-indulgence and exhaustion. Some of this may sound familiar!

This year our Christmas was without most of these things.

We found a lovely campsite in south east Spain, about 1,000 miles from home, and a million miles away from what we’re used to. Other than a surprise visit to Santa in Avignon (surprising because it just happened to be there, and it was free), we hadn’t undertaken any of our usual Christmas traditions. We arrived on site just a couple of days before the 25th and hadn’t yet bought any presents! Thankfully, Amazon, digital gifts and (for us) a trip to a Carrefour & Decathlon (there aren’t many places to park a 9-metre-long vehicle) remedied this important element. It was fun being challenged to be innovative and creative with our purchases (given our new parameters of limited space and retail availability) and keeping gifts a surprise for one another.

Not knowing anyone here and being in a weird bubble on the campsite, we simply spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day as the five of us. Of course, these terms were really only a familiar reference point for us. With no last-minute shopping to do, or turkey to collect on Christmas Eve, and no family or friends to hang out with on Boxing Day, they simply became calendar dates. Christmas is celebrated very differently here in Spain. Some presents are exchanged on the 24th December, not a lot happens on the 25th and then more presents are given on the 5th January, when the arrival of the Three Kings is celebrated.

So our Christmas was without the company of family and friends; the busyness of dashing place to place to see them; turkey (or any other roast meat for that matter); crackers and hopeless jokes; too much food; the wet UK weather (yes, that white Christmas slipped by Blighty once again); every radio station playing cheesy Christmas songs… and other than our wonderful family and friends, I didn’t miss a bit of it.

Of course, we were able to keep a few familiar traditions; well-known carols and Christmas tunes belted out (albeit it whilst driving along orange tree lined roads in the sunshine!), decorations and a tree of sorts, stockings and family presents (plus cards and gifts our loved ones had sent us off with), we found a local church to visit as well, and with the magic of the interweb I was able to watch the Queen’s Christmas Speech. But we were also able to be spontaneous… we all woke up (naturally) while it was still dark, so we went to watch sunrise on the beach, and instead of the BBQ we’d planned we changed our minds mid-afternoon and had tapas at the campsite’s restaurant! Perhaps unsurprisingly, our stripped back Christmas was a lot of fun – and certainly the most relaxing and peaceful I’ve ever had (after all, watching sunrise on the beach, splashing about in the swimming pool and having a meal out are very different and require little effort). It was a Christmas without pressure. It was a different Christmas, one characterised by freedom.

And this made me stop and think. If Christmas without most of the things that usually characterise it for us, is a more enjoyable time, then what is the point of those things? Indeed, what, then, is the point of Christmas itself? It is often referred to as the season of goodwill, and a time to be merry and jolly… and yet I’ve (sadly) found that the effort that often goes into fitting in all the events, trying to find a gift for a family member who already has all they want and need often causes over-tiredness and stress for someone (even if it isn’t me!).

The Queen, in her Christmas message, referred to Jesus, and that Christmas traditions began from the celebrations of his birth. As I’ve reflected on this (partly because this year I’ve had the time to do so) I now wonder how many of our Christmas traditions have anything to do with him or his birth? Many people believe that Jesus brings peace and goodwill, and that Christmas marks his arrival on earth to do just that. So, why then do many of the Christmas traditions bring about anything but that? This year, I discovered that a Christmas without the usual traditions and trimmings has been far more peaceful and with just as much goodwill as in previous years (in fact, without fighting through queues and car parks there has probably been more goodwill!)

I’m grateful for the opportunity to experience Christmas a different way, a Christmas without – it’s turned out to be a Christmas with so much more.

And it will make me think hard about what our Christmases should be like in the future.