Happy Christmas to Everyone,
This is my third Christmas post since I joined Steem back in 2017. I think writing a Christmas post has become a tradition for me. The previous two years I had a clear idea of what I wanted to share. In 2017, I wrote about Christmas traditions and their origins. In 2018, I wrote about what Christmas meant to me and what I believe is a good Christmas philosophy to have. This year I could not think of anything that I really wanted to share or had the time to share. Instead, I will make this post about some of the things that crossed my mind but decided not to share this Christmas.
The wonders Christmas does for the economy
Christmas is the time of year people go out and spend. Well at least that is what it looks like with all the people rushing round the shopping centres presumably buying things. Many people would assume lots of spending is good for the economy. Statistically that would be true for the month of December if we consider a higher monthly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) a signal of the economy performing well. What I cannot draw conclusions on, is whether the extra spending in December is not just spending which would have occurred at another time of year had Christmas not existed. I would need to conduct some research, which I have not been able to find time to do this year on this issue.
Defining the economy based on GDP or changes in GDP is a very simplistic view of the economy. There are so many other indicators of the performance of the economy. These include (un)employment, inflation, debt, investment, balance of payments, etc. We could also argue that social indicators relating to crime, education, health, and environment also play an important contributing role to the health of the economy. The festive season is likely to have an effect on some of these.
Buying gifts for others is quite an important part of Christmas for some people. Buying gifts can be difficult as we are often unsure what other people might want. This results in many unwanted gifts being bought. This can be considered wasteful if these gifts are not used or enjoyed. However, receiving a gift has value in itself even if the gift is not something particularly wanted. In some cases, there could be disappointment if the person buying the gift is expected to know what type of gift they are supposed to buy.
There are many things to consider and research before I would be able to attempt to evaluate the impact Christmas has on the economy. Therefore, I will save this type of post for another time. I might do a special Christmas economics series in December next or the year after.
First cold Christmas in many years
I am back in the United Kingdom for Christmas this year. This is my fist cold Christmas in many years. The last time that I had a cold Christmas was in 2011. I was in the United Kingdom that year. I do not normally experience cold Christmases because I lived in Australia for 14 years and I lived in Singapore for 16 years before that.
A cold Christmas post would have been a great idea if we had snow. Instead, it is just a bit damp. There does not even appear to be any frost today either. There was frost back in October. It is still cold; I think the minimum temperature for today is 3 Degrees Celsius. It is just not noticeably winter cold for photographs or videos.
Christmas in another location
Having Christmas in another location is great. As I mentioned earlier in the post. I am in the United Kingdom for this Christmas instead of Australia. However, I am not going out or on holiday over this Christmas period. This year is a stay at home Christmas. I am cooking the Christmas dinner/lunch this year. I had a rehearsal Christmas meal on Sunday and it went quite well.
I also have a new Christmas tree. I had the previous Christmas tree in Australia and it lasted about ten years, which is pretty good considering it was cheap and was only expected to last about two or three years. I liked the old tree but it was time for a change. Lugging the old tree across the world would have been expensive. So, I bought a new Christmas tree for the new location. I went with fibre optic lights again. These are built into the tree and are far less troublesome than buying Christmas lights to put on the tree. The lights on the new tree are more colourful than the ones on the previous tree.
This would have made an OK Christmas post but it would be better if we had the whole family together and if we went out somewhere over the Christmas period. Having snow would have helped; see previous point.
Vegan Christmas
I have mentioned in several of my posts that I am vegan. The Christmas meal is a vegan meal; that means no animal products. It can be quite challenging to find Christmas food that is vegan. This year was not the case. The United Kingdom has many supermarkets that cater quite well for vegans. They have vegan roasts, vegan mince pies, vegan meats, vegan cheese, vegan gravy, etc. I bought most of the Christmas food from Lidl, Sainsbury’s, and Tesco’s supermarkets.
A vegan cooking post could have been interesting but I am not a particularly good cook. My sister (@vegoutt-travel) is the chef in the family. She is on the Carnival Fantasy somewhere in the Caribbean right now. When we have her here for Christmas, a vegan food post would be more appropriate. Then again, if she did the cooking, she might choose to write a Christmas post about the food instead.
Another type of vegan post would involve investigating the meat industry and the suffering of animals over and prior to the Christmas period. The Christmas season is the time of year when many turkeys are slaughtered for the Christmas meal. Many other animals are slaughtered for alternative roasts such as pigs (pork) or cows (beef). Many dairy products are used for creams, custards, and sauces. Christmas is a time of involuntary giving for many farm animals. Christmas animal cruelty is not just limited to farm animals and food but other types of animals. Animals are used in shows and plays. They are used for rides and in Christmas petting zoos. Many animals are given as Christmas presents because they look cute as puppies or kittens. Many of these animal gifts end up abandoned and are put in animal shelters that are already crowded.
A Christmas animal cruelty post would have been interesting to write but would have also required some research too. I will write about animal cruelty over the Christmas period but probably not during the Christmas period. Seeing and writing about cruel things over the Christmas period would put a damper on my mood.
A reflection of the year
Christmas is a great time to reflect over the year. I will not write my Christmas post as a reflection of the year as I do that with my end of year posts, which I will be writing in about a week. I normally split my New Year posts into two part parts. One part is a reflection on the year ending and the other part is my plans for the upcoming year. I write about my activities and plans both on and off Steem.
Make a video instead
A Christmas post does not need to be a written post. I could make a video about Christmas. In fact, I have made several joint videos with my sister long before I joined Steem. We used to make the videos for my mum and brother who lived on the other side of the world from us. These videos have not been uploaded to the internet. It would be a good idea to share these videos at some point. Sharing these videos could be good for a December Christmas series. I could end the series at Christmas with a new Christmas video with the whole family together.
This Christmas Post
That brings me to the end of my 2019 Christmas Post. This is the Christmas Post about Christmas ideas for future Christmas posts. In November 2020, I will turn to this post for ideas for my next Christmas post or possibly Christmas series. The content I post, will depend on what I am doing, the amount of free time I have and my mood at the time. My mood at the time often pulls me in particular directions. I have no doubt it will again next year. With that, I wish you all a fantastic Christmas, a great Christmas period and a spectacular year in 2020.
