Great, so we’ve had the turkey (nice good size too, not too dry, crispy); the champagne’s gone (shock); the presents opened (all smiles and wrapping paper in a nice neat pile on the floor); the pine needles from the over-decorated festive tree comfortably wedged in everyone’s socks, and generally everyone’s had a good Christmas. Brilliant actually, good times. Except that Doctor Who episode, slightly (very) disappointing. Y’all know what I mean.

So now it’s the 29th of December and I’m thinking ‘Oh crud, I haven’t written anything about Xmas, around Xmas, my feelings towards Xmas, etc, for creative writing’. So I sit there… and I think: If words were Christmas, what would those words be? Goodwill? Merry? (Which, as I’m told, how ‘merry’ you are is actually code for how drunk you get) Presents? Santa? Christ? (In whichever context you place it.) Actually all of these words are too clichéd, repeated in too many songs, sayings, poems, heads. They probably apply – after all, clichés are clichés because of accuracy in description, no? Or obvious description for an event/ person/ general noun? There’s irony buried in there somewhere, but I’m too lazy to find it. Besides, this is supposed to be about Christmas, right? Not my warped brain’s digression to the definition of ‘irony’ and it’s application to the words of Christmas.

Let’s start again… Christmas… Christ-mas… Christmastime… The time of Christ’s birth… a festival of a holy child’s birth… well, you can mix the words up, but, come on, it all spells out the same shindig. Family, tree, presents, turkey, more presents, TV (oh yes, the Queen’s speech!)… Did I mention presents?

I think this writing my have lost it’s meaning… ‘It had a meaning?’ I hear you cry.

Well actually I guess it didn’t. You see, the reason I didn’t write anything before Christmas about the festive season was because I was too busy to really think about it, and the reason I didn’t write anything on Christmas day about Christmas or my feelings on Christmas day is because I was enjoying myself too much to do anything but scoff chocolates, watch TV and just generally have a brilliant traditional Christmas at home with my family. It was only after Christmas had come and gone that my thoughts were toward homework or things I must do before college. And that’s the way it should be… everyone should enjoy Christmas and not worry about what you have to do, but what you want to do. It maybe that the meaning of Christmas has been lost amongst the commercialism, but it is still a time to be happy, one day of heavenly sloth, when the rest of the year is reserved for responsibility, work and present-less times.

And so this random, unstructured mess of thoughts comes to a close. I know, I know, ‘Thank God’. I’m quite relieved too. Oh, Happy New Year… but I don’t suppose you want to hear my thoughts on that too? Didn’t think so.