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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-12-24, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2015. PAGE 5. Did you know there was such a thing as a World Happiness Report (WHR)? Well, there is, and what’s more, you and I are in it. As Canadians. The WHR is a United Nations-sanctioned initiative in which experts (using a ganglion of criteria too convoluted to get into here) rank 106 nations in terms of their overall ‘happiness’. Canada’s in the top 10 – number five as a matter of fact. Our neighbours to the south limped in a distant 15th, but I don’t think Yanks are any unhappier than Canucks. It’s just that psycho whack jobs like Trump, Palin, Limbaugh and their trollish acolytes tend to skew the U.S. average downward. So. Number five in the Smiles and Chuckles department. Not bad. But if you want to be ecstatically delirious you need to break out the Alpenhorn and the leather shorts. Switzerland, the researchers claim, is the gladhands-down happiest nation in the world, closely followed by Iceland, Denmark and Norway. So much for the old ‘somber Scandinavian’ stereotype. That said, I know more than a few grumpy frostbacks here in the Great White North. In fact there are days, especially in this grim stretch of the calendar when the sun barely bothers to shine on our country, that even you may have been fingered as a gloomy Gus. Are you a walking Black Hole of negativity? Dr. Black can help. First thing you do, turn to your Facebook page. Now delete it. Seriously. Unfriend yourself. Deep-six your Facebook habit; it’s probably bumming you out. A study published in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology reports that spending too much time on Facebook is likely to depress you. Why? Think about it. Most Facebook posts are unrelieved Brag- Ins. Everything’s awesome, wonderful, incredible – a never-ending Yellow Brick Road. It’s pretty to think about, but life ain’t like that. Another study published by the Happiness (Yes) Research Institute of Copenhagen concludes “Social media is a non-stop Great News Channel, a constant flow of edited lives which distorts our perception of reality.” The second thing you need to do to achieve happiness? Dead easy. Just get older. Yet another study – this one from the Brookings Institute in Washington – concludes that statistically, happiness goes into a bit of a slump from early adulthood until middle age. After that it shoots skyward. Sunny days, my fellow codgers. The best is yet to come. Oh, and if you’re looking for a hobby, you might consider buying a few seeds and a trowel. Someone once asked the philosopher Bertrand Russell for his thoughts on happiness. Russell, then in his 90s, replied: “Every time I talk to an intellectual I feel quite sure that happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet when I talk to my gardener, I’m convinced of the opposite.” I think the merry chap with the white beard and the red suit would probably agree. You know the mantra that Santa sings in his off-season, don’t you? “HOE, HOE, HOE!” Arthur Black Shawn Loughlin Shawn’s Sense Sometimes the best Christmas gift that anyone can receive is the knowledge that, despite the way the world seems to be spiralling out of control some days, family values are still at the core of most holiday celebrations. It may seem like a given that Christmas is about time with family, but now-a-days, with people getting cell phones that cost more than an entire year’s gifts for a much younger version of myself, I often worry that Christmas may be forgotten as a time of love and remembered as a time for gain. Part of The Citizen’s super-sized Christmas bonanza issue that is in your hand right now is Shawn and I having the opportunity to talk to people, usually in their homes, about what Christmas means to them. We did something a bit different this year, looking at some younger families and some newer families to the area in addition to some familiar names in the communities we cover and I have to say (having not read Shawn’s stories yet), that this may be the best year yet for me in being reminded that the people in Huron County haven’t forgotten what the holidays are all about. Take, for example, the Studhalter family. When I set up an interview with Ursina Studhalter to talk about Christmas, I figured that we would end up talking about how her friends from school factored into her holiday celebration and how family was important. Little did I know I would stumble onto a great story about Christmas traditions from around the world that showed the great lengths her family went to make sure that Christmas was still celebrated the way she remembered it as a child in Switzerland. Learning about how the Swiss celebrate Christmas was only half the fun of the story as I got a glimpse into why the family came to Canada and learned more about Ursina, a former co-worker here at North Huron Publishing. The Royall family’s Christmas celebration and memories were also eye-opening experiences to write about. While I knew that family was incredibly important to Mark and Glenda, I didn’t know that they had such a rich Christmas history to draw upon and great Christmas traditions they had created themselves. I also discovered that board games were an important part of the Christmas celebration for the family which was something I didn’t know. As a matter of fact, more than half of the family Christmas stories I wrote this year for the special Christmas edition you’re enjoying right now showed me that board games and card games are an important part of Christmas which, as an avid board game player myself, puts a big smile on my face. While I have groups of friends that I love playing board games with, the idea of a family sitting around a table on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and breaking open a new or beloved board game puts a big smile on my face. I also learned that, for the Royalls, family is a fluid term that can cover all sorts of relations that they enjoy spending their time with. For Katie and Shawn Cottrill, much of the Christmas holiday is about something they both love: curling. The couple spends a lot of time at the curling rink but, like the Royalls, board games (and video games at one point) play into their celebration as well. The time at the rink is something they both enjoy and something that Katie’s family has enjoyed for a long time and it’s nice to hear that. My paternal relatives play hockey at Christmas (I’m determined to be there this year) and I love that so I’m glad that other people have sports and games at the centre of their own celebrations as well. When I spoke to Steve Howson about his family Christmas, it was great to know that there are still companies out there whose employees celebrate together and recognize that family can also be the people you work with every day. It was also great to see that family was so important to the Howsons with both their extended celebrations and the way that responsibilities had been handed down in the family. While I can’t claim to have the same love of movies that the Sholdice clan does, I do have some Christmas films that I make sure to watch every Christmas, no matter how much my wife may groan at me. I also love that the family gathers around Cards Against Humanity, a modern classic as far as approachable board and card games go and have such a good time enjoying Christmas together. Last, and certainly not least, is the Kroes family, which uses board games to decide who gets to open their gifts and have adopted technology to help make their Christmas celebration a little more streamlined. To me, that’s a great tale to tell. Board games being used not just for the fun involved but to spawn more fun by adding a little bonus for the winner is great and showing that technology can help enhance family time instead of distracting family members and causing us to ignore each other is another great lesson. All in all, between the stories I wrote and the tales I was told, my belief that Christmas is about family and love and fun with the people you care about was renewed as it usually is. I’m truly blessed in that I get to experience this resurgence of true Christmas spirit every year and I hope that the readers of The Citizen can enjoy reading the tales of families in the area as much as I enjoy writing them. Merry Christmas, happy holidays and have a joyous New Year. Denny Scott Denny’s Den Home for Christmas As a new homeowner, I have a growing appreciation for what all of you have gone through before me when it comes to Christmas. I now understand the hard work, sacrifice and money that goes into getting a home ready for the holidays. Sure, when living in an apartment, I celebrated Christmas. But it’s nothing like preparing a home for the holidays. Things have been made easier in recent years, since manufacturers have realized that most people don’t want to drive nails or staples into their home. As a result, they’ve made clips for outdoor lights, whether they be the clothespin-style clips that come on strands of lights now or the 3-M clips you can stick to the house (that don’t leave a mark when you take them off – or at least that’s what I was told, we’ll see after Christmas), things have gotten easier, but I still don’t know how people do it. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation was on the other night – the infamous story of the Griswold Family Christmas – and I found I watched it through completely fresh eyes. First, of course, we have to talk about the lights and decorations. Griswold is famous for the house and all of its lights. As his Aunt Bethany says in the movie, the house looks like it’s on fire. Griswold himself puts the count at 250 strands of lights with 100 bulbs per strand for a grand total of 25,000 lights. I have one single strand of lights running from one end of the front of the house to the other and that was enough work. It took the better part of an afternoon, I had to get up on a ladder. Doing that 249 more times isn’t something I’m exactly interested in. Second is the tree. This year, Jess and I got a real tree for the first time and they’re expensive. The tree isn’t that expensive (thanks Londesborough Lions Club), it’s everything that goes on the tree. Ornaments are expensive, the stand you put the tree in is expensive, the skirt you put around the tree is expensive. And then you have to put presents under it, and presents, as I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, are expensive. And I didn’t have nearly the hassle that the Griswold family did. Citizen reporter Denny Scott and I went to Londesborough and picked up our trees, delivering them to our homes with relative ease. We didn’t have to trudge through the snow, we didn’t cut them down ourselves and we haven’t (to date – wish us luck) burned them down requiring us to cut down new ones. So, once again, Griswold drew the short straw there – and that’s without getting into the squirrel incident that came along with their second tree. Then there’s having family over. In this, the first year in the house, we’re having our family to Blyth for Christmas. That means food and drink for 10 people, enough chairs for 10 people (we don’t have them, so I’m accepting donations) and decorative placemats and nice cloth napkins (again, expensive). So, yes, I’ll admit, when I was younger and a little more naïve, I saw in Clark Griswold a bumbling man trying to pull off a silly holiday party. Now, I see an honest man with an ambitious plan. Around Christmas, for homeowners, I feel we’re closer to being him than we care to admit. We’re all just one or two things going wrong away from becoming Clark Griswold – swearing and wielding a chain saw, all while wearing a Santa suit. So, Merry Christmas everybody! May your holidays all go smoothly – for everyone’s sake. Other Views Cheer up! The best is yet to come Recovering the Christmas spirit May your home be filled with the magic and joy of Christmas and may your hearts be filled with love and warmth.