Joy to the World – Christmas is here

Joy – Just because it’s Christmas!

Never thought about this – but joy unites people. Just like hate is divisive, joy is unifying. I feel that most during the Christmas season.

Austin has been home for half my lifetime. I grew up in the hangover British Raj Christmas tradition of plum cakes and fake Christmas trees. It was called Borodin or the Big Day in Calcutta. We ate pastries and chicken patties (sort of like Cornish pasties), walked the famed Brit-infused Park street to see Christmas lights strung over the road and gawked at the giant stuffed Santa Clause with his reindeers in front of Flury’s, the age-old confectionery. People celebrated a festival far from their land and close to their hearts. A lot of people didn’t know the significance of Christmas but they took part in the joy. The joy was strong, livable and fluttered in our young hearts.

I love how festive it is in Austin now and I don’t mean the Christmas songs running overtime in the stores or the throngs in the mall or the rush of shoppers everywhere. But, everyone is happy, eager and there is a little Pa rum pum pum pum playing inside all of us. I see older couples holding hands and browsing boots in Macys. Their eyes shine with a joy that only comes around this time of the year. People are buying things for others – fancy lollipops, Starbucks cards, cat mugs, panini makers, Nespresso machines, Grinch booties. Cynics may say it’s the stores that are caroling all the way to the bank. But, I see real joy in people – the joy of of unfettered buying and giving. The joy is electric – it radiates and touches everyone around.

I go to Central Market – one of my favorite go-to places and love how magical the store looks. I browse little boxes of ginger snaps and chocolate covered marzipan and I feel warm. I see gingerbread houses, stollens, plum cakes, panettones and I sense the joy that is all over the world now. The air smells of food, excitement and merriment. I sample warm mulled wine and imagine I am in Bavaria on a bitterly cold night.

We go to the Capitol Sing-along. We stand with the crowd on a warm evening in front of the Capitol building that looks white in the light and sing at the top of our voice. Reindeer antlers sway on the headbands of children standing ahead. Kids slide on the green slopes on carboard box pieces, again and again. The tree is lit, the stages are set, a band plays “we are family” and we walk and smell popcorn.

I go for an office party at the Trail of Lights. The lights twinkle and dazzle at the green-black grounds of Zilker Park, the tree glows over us. Under the tent, people laugh and exchange stories about grandmothers in Scotland and snow in Chicago. We laugh, we eat and we talk about things that we love. I walk back crossing the bridge under Mopac in the chilly night and see a concrete pillar glowing on the Town Lake with – ‘Live a Great Story.’ I sing Silent Night in my head. The dark waters listen.

I go to Manpasand, one of the Indian grocery stores; I smile to see their doors are covered with Christmas paintings.

I feel joy because so many are feeling it. It has nothing to do with my nationality, my age, my gender, my ZIP code, my weight, my life and my history. I sing ‘Joy to the world the Lord has come’ with the same gusto as ‘Rudolph the red nosed reindeer’ and it has nothing to do with my religion and my race.

I love Austin so much more at this time, the joy spreads all over and fills the city with an air that is moon dust and magic. A lady in a long line at J.C.Penny’s kept offering her coupons to customers in front of her. I told her – she was truly spreading the Christmas cheer. She smiled and said – every little bit helps. We work hard all year long, now is the time to love hard.

So true – only if we could spread some of that love to the murderous traffic in the city now!