Last Tuesday night I needed relief from the stress of daily college living, and the art of bedroom Feng Shui was just the ticket I needed to clear my head.
Because rearranging a living space can be quite time consuming, I'm always sure to have two constants present when redecorating: beer and a rocking playlist on my computer. With a delicious Hofbrau in hand, the usual suspects began appearing in my MusicMatch jukebox. Earlier that evening, I caught my wing-mate Adam watching a Bruce Springsteen concert DVD, which prompted me to make an inquiry that would chart the course for the rest of the night.
\Have you ever heard Bruce and the E Street Band play 'Santa Claus Is Coming to Town'?"" I probed. Adam replied that he hadn't, so I added the song on my playlist for the night.
About midway between moving my futon and picking a new spot for my turntable cabinet, I came across a box of Christmas lights tucked away in a dark corner of my room. A moment later, Springsteen came up on the playlist, belting out his awesome rendition of the Christmas classic. I was instantly in the holiday mood.
As soon as the song was over, I knew the remainder of my song selection would no longer suffice; my night had been hijacked by the spirit of Christmas. With a few quick clicks of the mouse, my musical agenda shifted from classic rock to the carols of Nat ""King"" Cole, the Carpenters and Guy Lombardo.
The Christmas songs immediately improved my mood, and I didn't want the night of Feng Shui, beer and holiday tunes to ever end. I was feeling great, with all the weight of the semester, the internship search and the rest of the usual college drama lifted from my shoulders.
Yet as I spent the night reshaping the landscape of my bedroom, I wondered: Is Nov. 9 too early to start listening to Christmas classics? Is two full weeks before Thanksgiving the time to start rocking the Yuletide?
Over the last decade or so, many have bemoaned the seemingly ever-earlier start to the holiday shopping season--that capitalism and greed are the real holidays celebrated in December. I remember a time when the Day After Thanksgiving Sale was regarded as an event for only the most hardcore of holiday shoppers. Now, we can go to any mall in America on Halloween and see a kid in a costume sitting on Santa's lap.
For me, holiday music has the power to both make me feel wonderful and put things into perspective. The everyday problems seem to take a back seat when I think of celebrating the holidays with family and friends, going home to enjoy a simpler time without classes and the pressures of school.
At the end of that fateful early November night, when my room was in order (at least for a little while), I realized that it wasn't wrong for me to start getting into the ""Holiday Spirit"" so early. You don't have to celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa (or nothing) to appreciate an improved sense of humanity in humanity.
And, if the ever-increasing capitalistic onslaught of the winter holiday season gets the scrooges of the world in a better mood, well, Merry Christmas!
writePNL@yahoo.com.
