Christmas At A Distance
While the rest of the world I know back west anxiously gathers their wits in preparation for Christmas, I walk through the streets of a country where it feels more like a novelty, an afterthought, a coincidence. This has given me new point of view on the holiday as I usually know it. I have no tree in my living room, no presents to wrap, no frustration over having enough spare money around for gift giving or who I may forget in that process.
This is not to say I have no Christmas spirit. I love this time of year and the calmness it brings to family and community. I love the way it puts life on pause while we all take a collective sigh of relief, if not just for one day. Being away from the U.S. has given me a refocused perspective on what is so great about this time of year.
Holiday junk email is the only faint reminder of the madness and pressure of holidays back home. Suddenly, in unison anyone and everyone with something to sell is barking all at once and its noisy, even from across an ocean. The games big retailers play with consumers get more and more pushy year over year and distancing myself from that has been refreshing.
Personal observation aside, I hope you guys have a fantastic holiday this year, may it be joyful and give you a break from any stress you may or may have found yourself in leading up to it. It can be easy to get lost in the noise of Christmas giving but don’t forget that is not all there is to it. I will leave you with a last minute wallpaper, I finally came across something fun to shoot for the season, better late than not at all eh?
I found this cheap toy hiding in a tiny shop full of novelty trinkets both vintage and new from Korea. It has a multi color LED glow when you turn it on but I like the unusual look of albino Santa on his own so I decided to use sunlight to illuminate him instead. I photographed him in the entrance of a beautiful hotel we stayed in while traveling this past weekend.
I have more for you guys before this year is gone so I will see you again soon but for now, I wish everyone a joyful week!
BONUS: A lot of you already have it but here is a link to a Christmas themed 50ft Radio mix I made a couple years ago. I wanted to make a new one this year but ran out of time to put one together.
Thanks so much for the Christmas Radio Mix, excellent listening!
Great listen! When is your “My year in music” post coming.
Coming soon! I have a couple of year end posts on the way, just trying to find time to get em out.