Yikes, it has been an entire month since I last posted a Murmur from the Megaverse®. My apologies. I know you hear from me every week in the Weekly Updates, but that’s more of a business type thing. The Murmurs would often talk about the small things and the personal things. You know, stuff going on behind the scenes, little updates and my own thoughts and emotions about the goings-on at Palladium and life in general. I’m sorry I’ve gotten away from that. We’ve all just been so crazy busy. And I mean crazy busy, all year long. I’m going to try to get back to doing 2-4 Murmurs a week starting today.
I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving Day holiday. (Or not so relaxing if you were out in the stores taking advantage of the many sales, but I hope it was still fun.) I’m one of those Black Friday shoppers. I love Christmas and see it as a time to do nice things for as many people as possible. Hence the Palladium Christmas Surprise Packages.
I like to buy a little something for every member of the Palladium staff, friends and family. That includes many of the freelance artists and writers, and others I work with closely. Crazy? Maybe, but I have my eyes open all year long for special items and special sales, so I’m not stuck with one big bill at the end of the year. I love giving gifts at Christmas for a few reasons.
First and foremost, it makes people smile and happy, and I love that.
Second, it lets people know much they are appreciated. And I do so very appreciate them. Even a small gift that costs only a few dollars lets people know you’re thinking about them and makes them feel good about themselves and about the holidays.
The last reason is a selfish one: it makes me happy to bring people joy. You see, I grew up poor. Really poor. Below the poverty level poor. So as a child and teenager, my family and I had to scrimp and save all year long for Christmas. Even then, half the gifts we’d give out were handmade because we still didn’t have enough money to buy gifts for everyone we cared about. As an adult I realize those hand-drawn cards and homemade gifts are, indeed, truly precious and the most special of all. As a youngster, however, it felt terrible. It felt like a cheat. And you felt like you were letting your loved ones down. Foolish, but true.
Ironically, being poor taught me a lot, especially about Christmas. Though we were poor, we were truly blessed with a loving family. My brother and I had the most wonderful Mom and Dad you could every hope for. I was also lucky to realize that treasure at a young age. So not having money made you really think about the one or two gifts that would mean the most to your loved one. It taught me to really think about giving a gift that you know (or are pretty sure) the person will truly want and enjoy. And the surprise and joy that would often come with that gift, priceless.
So yeah, Christmas for me, is a wonderful time of year. A time of giving special gifts that will bring a smile to the recipient and bit of joy even if it’s only for a day, or a few minutes. It’s not the gift so much as the sentiment and love behind it. At least for me.
So I hope you had a pleasant weekend and are starting to feel the good cheer of the holiday season. A time of giving, kindness and love is beautiful regardless of your religious or secular beliefs.
With Appreciation,
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, Writer and Surrogate Santa
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