If Everyday Could Be Just Like Christmas
Christmas time in the city doesn't have to be confined to December.
Contrary to the belief of many, the birth of Christ almost certainly did not take place on December 25th. We actually don’t know for certain what day it was.
The point of the Christmas holiday is not to celebrate “Christ’s birthday,” per se, but rather to remember and celebrate its occurrence and significance.
That’s why I have no shame when I occasionally throw a Christmas song on in June, or jump the gun a little bit in October. Because while there is certainly a Christmas season, the holiday celebrates and remembers a truth that is good news year-round.
And if “Christmas spirit” isn’t calendar-constrained, then the best parts of the Christmas season shouldn’t be constrained, either.
Cities always become the best versions of themselves during Christmas time: beautiful lights on street lamps, open pedestrian streets and markets, music all around. For a fan of downtowns, it is truly “the most wonderful time of the year.”
While 365 days of Christmas trees might be excessive, there’s no reason that many of the best elements of “urban Christmas” can’t be year-round fixtures. In fact, they should be.
Sometimes it’s true that you can have too much of a good thing. But so much of what makes “Christmas time in the city” so great is that we actually get a taste of what cities should always be. Sure, there’s too much consumerism to it. And the cars that drive in get obnoxious.
But this time of year, the driving and consuming are actually signal flares of desire for things that are worth driving in for. Rather than respond with irritation and cynicism, we should receive that desire as reason for optimism and motivation to keep democratizing access to great spaces.
As Elvis Presley once sang,
"Oh why can't every day be like christmas
Why can't that feeling go on endlessly
For if everyday could be just like christmas
What a wonderful world this would be.”