FEATURED ARTIST

Laura Morales @manifesto.dg

“QUENA PLAYER”

Ho-ho-how do you not celebrate?

Ry Forsythe - Contributor Chelle Lussi - Illustrator

The groans and eye-rolling still happen anytime before November, however North America is notorious for reminding us Christmas is just around the corner before Halloween even starts. Though it is the norm for capitalist Canada to remind us to buy buy buy, this is still a place that invites people from diverse backgrounds, heritage and religions, many of which don’t participate in everything marketed to them. So, what do you do when you don’t celebrate the corporate holidays where almost everything is closed, people are with their families and every last turkey is gone from the shelf?

If sociology and anthropology teaches us anything, it’s that the more space you take up, the more power you have. Christmas is an example brought up when it comes to religions, especially in July… and October… and November… and December. Though many cultures and religions have festivals of light, they aren’t getting the same amount of attention due to a market highly saturated in Santa’s, reindeer and candy canes. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you’ll see Instagram posts about Diwali, find a sweater with the Star of David or a menorah, or buy a Yule log for a Christmas decoration instead of using it for a wiccan ritual. If you’re really lucky, you’ll stand awkwardly as another old white guy gets offended when a barista says happy holidays and throws the cup that isn’t Christmassy enough…

Anyways, though more places recognize and give anoth er festival light a shoutout here or there, there are still opportunities for institutions like, let’s say, universities to showcase different religions and their practice. Perhaps they can host events that give space for different religions, allow for classrooms or meeting rooms to host more diverse holiday celebrations or create a cross campus scavenger hunt displaying different practices throughout the winter months. That being said, it would be up to the students who don’t celebrate Christmas to take space if it’s offered, and those who celebrate Christmas to take a step back, listen, observe and learn.

So, if you aren’t celebrating Christmas, what can you do? Options are limited due to most places being mandatorily closed to give people a day off before bad boxing week sales pop up. That being said, one can always take the opportunity to take a coworker’s shift, go to a mostly empty movie theater to see that film you were putting off, or take up skiing for the dayS so no one sees you fall. After all, the space is free — so you may as well fill it.