December and January in Aotearoa are different from the other months of the year; it’s more than just the end of the school year and kicking back. It’s a mix of all the mad scrambles to get everything sorted before the holiday season, paired with wondering what the date actually is as the days roll by into endless sun-kissed afternoons. For so many reasons, December and January in Aotearoa feel different from the rest of the year. It’s also the season that reminds us it’s all about the people.
Regardless of your definition of what family is, Christmas brings out whatever family means for you. Perhaps it's the people in your family that you get to spend Christmas with, who are the ones you meet only once every year. Perhaps it is your chosen family, the people who accept you for who you are. December is the time of the year that we are all reminded to stop and take notice of them.
Traditions throughout the summer make life easier. Each year, the whole family might go on an adventure to the beach, where inevitably the best games of backyard cricket are held, eventually winding down in arguments over whether the batsman was out. Road trips where singing off-key is drowned out by the music playing during day-long or late-night drives. It is the small things, like making yummy platters of food, wrapping presents at the very last minute, or lounging on the couch after a long, hot day, that make the memories you hold dear.
It’s easy to get consumed by the stress that life brings us every year through work and school. So much taken in, in such a short period of time, that we forget the significance of the years we are living. Our reset button is the summer. It’s the season that brings us the opportunity to take a moment to pause and take notice of the people who stood by us in all the hardest moments. To spend time with the people we love is the best reward we could ask for in a world that is already too busy.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that summer is the best time of the year. Christmas can also be very stressful. It’s not always simple being members of the same family. Not all the traditions work out the way we want them to; time schedules conflict, and moods can sometimes soar along with the rising temperatures. Yet the season encourages us to get in touch and find the moments with the ones we are most connected to.
Take time out for people who are significant to you during the summer: organise a barbecue for your friends, head to the beach along with your brothers and sisters; make space for some fun-packed time with your grandparents, send a message to a friend who’s been on your mind who you haven’t seen in ages. Feel free to make plans. Stick to them. Or, in fact, since the summer season is all about being free and relaxed, reschedule plans without feeling the least bit guilty.
Because you won’t remember the beautifully boxed presents or the perfect sunsets for the years to come. It will be the warm sand in your toes, the late-night conversations, the laughter that hurts your stomach, and the quiet feeling of being together that you will remember. January and December remind us that we are not supposed to go through life alone. It’s supposed to be in every moment that we bring each other closer together. It’s supposed to happen in the warm feeling of the summer night or in the loud, chaotic feeling of Christmas.
That’s the magic of the season. Enjoy it!
