I don’t think my iteration of a Christmas-well-spent deviates too far from the typical, traditional, decorations-littered-and-glittered-in-every-store, months-long Filipino version of it that continues to reheat its paksiw up until the second week of January. In fact, I relish in its familiarity, though somewhat routine and often entails perspirating from the various caroling, games, and boisterous laughter that echoes throughout every wall. Merrymaking is the first word I associate with this holiday, not the unavoidable side-comments from in-laws, not the shopping frenzy that takes malls by storm, and most definitely not the gifts that we all anticipate. 

Why, you ask? Because at its very core, Christmas is meant to celebrate joy—the glee that comes with the savior of mankind’s birth, and the gift of family. It’s somewhat anticipated to leave external pressures and deadlines of the bustling late-stage capitalist world we live in by the door, and come inside to be greeted with a community of familiar faces and the scent that lures you into a feast you’re guaranteed to break the self-appointed diet you’ve had up until this point of the year. In that sentiment, I am no different, gorging on both salty and savory treats, reminding myself that food this bountiful appears only every and now and then, and they’re a physical manifestation of collective effort, an effort in preserving belief and the spark that Christmas is often synonymous with, because food is quite literally the glue of society, mending ever-growing divide through its ability to nourish and bring about collaboration. It hovers over every aspect of the Christmas I know, paired alongside long overdue catching-up, breaks in between rehearsed dance intermission numbers of Jingle Bell Rock or Rocking Around the Christmas Tree in hopes of getting cash prizes from ninangs and ninongs, and the infamous drunken-karaoke-stupor that has the inevitable power to become a staple for many across the country, regardless of age, gender or class (it’s just a Pinoy thing).

And when love and laughter has exhausted themselves after Christmas Eve, Day, New Year’s Eve, and finally the New Year, I’m left with the memories of it, a standstill of the joy captured, frozen in time. Just like that, party’s officially over. The gifts have been open, the money inside the envelopes evaporated, and the paksiw finally consumed in its entirety. A gaping hole that emerged right after the most festive season, a longing for it to go on forever. Nevertheless, it’s a constant reminder that joy will only ever be appreciated when we’re bombarded with everything else, that it’s spent sparsely, in order for us to appreciate life and the things that come with it, with Christmas being one merry example.