Editorial TMID: The Christmas season
We have just entered December, and the Christmas season has begun.
People are getting ready to start their Christmas shopping, some may have already done so. People are planning Christmas dinners and even New Year’s parties. Some restaurants are already fully booked in terms of reservations for Christmas dinner.
Children will soon be let out of school for the holidays, and families will try to spend more time together. The stockings and Christmas trees will come out, the Christmas lights will be turned on, and for a few weeks people will try to be more cheerful than they normally are.
This Christmas also comes amid a global crisis, where inflation is increasing, and it affects everyone and everything. This means that people can be more cautious in their spending this year altogether.
The CEO of the Chamber of SMEs Abigail Agius Mamo noted thwhile consumers are going out shopping, they are doing so more cautiously, budgeting and going shopping with a goal in mind. She said that after the Black Friday period, where consumer trends showed that people held off on buying essential items, there is hope that Christmas shoppers will buy more non-essential items.
But regardless of shopping and gifts, this period shouldn’t really be about him. It is true that the holiday season has become highly commercialized, but it should also be about helping others. Every year during L’Istrina, the Maltese people show their big heart, donating to help others who really need our support. But we should not stop there.
There are people who have no one to spend Christmas with. People who can’t make plans, or are struggling financially and are worried about how they will make Christmas special for their children. For some people, this time of year can bring sadness, or feelings of failure, and this is something we can all help change.
We should try to reach out to people who we may know may be in such a situation. Spend some time with family members who may be lonely. Call them. Help them feel included. If we know that the family members are struggling financially, invite them to the Christmas dinner, this can help them to save some expenses for them.
We should also try to help those who are less fortunate that we do not know. For example, the Children’s Dreams initiative that is organized every year is one way that people can help bring some Christmas cheer to children who are going through a difficult time.
Caritas tries to organize a Christmas Day meal for people who would otherwise spend Christmas alone every year, or during Covid last year and the year before it delivered the meal to them instead due to restrictions . It is a fantastic initiative.
We can help others in our daily lives too. It can be by doing simple things, like helping an elderly person to carry out their shopping. It doesn’t have to be about grand gestures, it’s about being better versions of ourselves and helping others. Being better people should be our goal all year, but maybe this is a good time to start.