An Encomium to Martha Stewart

Although I've never met her, I like Martha Stewart.  I like her because she makes a big deal about things.  It's the idea she embodies, acknowledging and immersing one's self in the present season.  When you walk into a room Martha Stewart has touched, it's not just that you see Christmas.  You feel Christmas.

 - Or Thanksgiving, or Halloween.  As I get older I'm increasingly discouraged by the apathy I see in my peers and community regarding the holidays.  Halloween has fallen the farthest.  The sense I get from my friends' Facebook photos are that a Halloween party means a bowl of pretzels on an undecorated table in the corner, beer, and tasteless costumes that only looked good on the model advertising it.  What adults do in their apartment is their own business, I suppose, but I'm disheartened that Only a minority of homes in my neighborhood participated this year.  This neighborhood, new for me, was far more lively than last year, when I didn't get a single trick-or-treater.

Now, let me be clear: no one walking into any retail store or watching TV for more than 15 minutes can really miss it's Christmas.  But all that's more of a drumbeat proclaiming "buy, buy!, BUY!",  The only Black Friday shopping I did this year was to buy picks for a wreath I will make.  I won't even be in my apartment for the last half of December, but it's important to me to make something with my hands, Bing Crosby Christmas standards playing, soaking in the holiday season.  Thoreau told us to "live each season as it passes", and it's healthy to season our lives with something bigger than out daily routine.

Martha is written off as - why?  - a goody two-shoes?  An overachiever?  As she probably does not spend much time herself crafting, a hypocrite?  Maybe.  But that aside, she calls us to mark each holiday with something more than a bowl of pretzels on an undecorated table. To take the time to create something, be it food or decoration.  Indirectly, we'll create richer memories.

To become jaded is to being old inside.  We remain young by retaining our enthusiasm.  Living by Martha?  If there was a touch of doing simple things in our lives, making crafts by hand, marking the time of year, we'd all be happier and have healthier communities.