A Holiday Lasso

It's Thursday & the last post til Sunday when it's time to step into the virtual shoe closet. I'm about to get my cliché on & get all blah blah blah about the holidays. I just feel like it's my duty, right quick, to brings things back to what's supposed to be the overarching theme of all of this:

LOVE!!

Hanukkah started yesterday. While I am not Jewish, don't knowingly have a lot of Jewish people in my circle, I do recognize that this is also a special time of the year for them as well. The fact that I don't celebrate Hanukkah doesn't mean that I should disregard its importance to the Jewish community. Oddly enough, I used to work for a Hillel Center & was responsible for planning some of their holiday celebrations. Slightly different set up but about the same things everyone else's holidays are about--sharing, caring, & respect for who they believe in as their higher power.

Christmas is around the corner. I don't celebrate it either. I wasn't raised in the church, don't come from parents who believe in organized religion & have seen no need to embrace it myself as adult free to make my own decisions. However, my extended family WAS raised in the church, are Christians & DO celebrate Christmas. Out of love & respect for family, my mother raised us to have the same respect. Much the same way we don't support the history behind Thanksgiving, we DO support any day that's freely given to bring families together when the hustle & bustle of Life often gets in the way & lessens those opportunities. In short, we go to dinner with the family & enjoy each other. I don't recall a time the Bible was ever mentioned, can't recall a carol sung, but just enjoying being around people with replicas of your face & who knew you before you did.

Kwanzaa starts the day after Christmas & I WAS raised on it. I'm admittedly less gung ho about the way I celebrate the holiday but I DO still celebrate because of my belief in the value of the 7 principles. T'is the season for Kwanzaa bashing & the bastardization of Kente & mudcloth all over things they were never suited to cover--like toothbrushes. Some of the bashing is done in such a funny way that I can't help but laugh. I DO have a sense of humor & love to laugh. Still, I hold near & dear to my heart this holiday that seems to be the fodder for many jokes. I'll get into that once Kwanzaa begins. I think I'm going to devote 7 whole days (no Toni Braxton) of blog space to it so that you can perhaps see it through the eyes of someone who doesn't continue to celebrate Kwanzaa for the reasons others seem to ridiculously feel it exists.

Whether it's Jesus, Jehovah, Jah, or the "J" equivalent of nothing, we should all be consumed with the celebration of family--that includes anyone who resides in your heart as such--& enjoying the allotted time to come together & bask in each others' smiles & laughter. Cuz whether it's a fish fry, a honey baked ham or a dry ass turkey, it's about who is sitting at the table with you more than what's on the table (though we all pray it's been prepared with love & consideration for our taste buds).

Happy Holidays to you all, enjoy your loved ones, &...

Watch me move.