This thought has been bouncing through my head for the last couple of weeks: when did Christmas become a romantic holiday? Various Christmas standards "Baby It's Cold Outside," "Let It Snow," and "All I Want for Christmas Is You," play this up, as do the movies "Love Actually," "An Affair To Remember," and to a lesser extent "It's A Wonderful Life."

To a certain extent, romantic feelings are to be expected. Christmas is about love which would include romantic love. But, my cynical guess is that it is also tied up with Christmas becoming a commercial holiday, mixed with a healthy dose of family politics. The drive to find the perfect gift only becomes more crucial when it is for a lover. In a marketing sense, how can any holiday be perfect without having the perfect someone to share it with? Of course, the reality of the first time a person brings their significant other home to meet the family has a lot of emotional weight behind it as well.

I'm sure my sensitivity is heightened by my single status and being the only one of my siblings without a long term partner. But Christmas, in my opinion, should be about the birth of Jesus, and secondarily about being with your family. It is an emotionally and sociologically loaded holiday already, and does not need to carry the added burden of another Valentine's Day. Just as Advent is about hope and love, so should this time be about be-ing. Being content, being happy, just letting things be as they are.

OK, end of rant.

I do wish all of you the Merriest of Holidays, whatever your faith or beliefs have you celebrate. Have a Merry Christmas, and a wonderful beginning to a new year.