It's that time of year again, Christmas-time. And with it comes all the trappings and wrappings of the holiday season. It's an end of year festival with gift-giving and sharing as the main focus whether with time or money, it is about the gift.This Christmas season catches me again unprepared. All the things I thought I would get done before another Christmas comes remain, undone. Yet, I'm excited and elated to be able to celebrate another one. My Christmas season started with the Toronto Santa Claus Parade which I shared with Mom, Dad and my beautiful niece, Kaelyn. Kaelyn made it so special! This was the third year we (Mom and I) took Kaelyn to the parade. The first year, she was one and a half and we missed it by 30 mins so saw the windows at The Bay instead. Last year, her Ma and Dad came and that was fun also with prego-Mel. This year, a 3 and a 1/2 year old Kaelyn took in the parade, made friends and had a good time. Never mind that Santa came late or there were big gaps and a lack of music, Kaelyn enjoyed every moment and every pause, she loved the bands and ran with all the other girls and boys between floats. Sooo much fun!
Later that night, we all hung out and got warm at Mel's place browsing through Christmas flyers as is tradition, browsing through flyers anyways. There was a piece of jewellry that caught my eye, a multi-coloured, multi-jewelled ring. Cosquell as they would say in French patois. My sister says it's a family or heritage ring, 'you should work on the family thing and then maybe get the ring'. True dat! Perhaps that is just the motivation I need to get off my duff and actively seek out a life-partner? I have thus far enjoyed a very social and active lifestyle without the commitment of a partner or companion. The promise of a steady companion, besides my cat, has not been enough to spur me on to movement in that area. Maybe now, I'll be a little bit more committed to the whole commitment thing. I jest but then I do not jest. I definitely want that ring!
I had an interesting experience with commitement of a different sort in the last two weeks. In the throes of ecstasy, it had to be the euphoria of shopping, at the National Women's Show a couple of weeks ago, I signed up for a 3-year contract with Rogers. Imagine that! I, who moved slowly from Bell to Solo Mobile to Koodo over five or six years, signed up for real! I was lured by a sleek Sony Ericsson Xperia phone in white with touch-screen functionality and the coolest games and downloads. I was in love with my new phone! I'm not that tech-savy so it was all new, fresh and over-whelming for me. It took me 7 days to realize what I had done.
After a long-period of non-commital cell-phone relationships, I ran into a long-term relationship without seriously considering the ramifications. The flexibility and variety that my lifestyle currently affords would have been drastically altered. I have dreams of living abroad in the near future, France, Europe, Barbados, the Caribbean, and being tied to this contract would have been the same strength of tie as if I had a mortgage on a house or condo, which I do not as yet. At times, I envy those home-owners and family-guys and gals with their 3-bedrooms and cars in garages, but at the same time I appreciate the freedom being single and unencumbered affords. I come and go as I please and I'm untied. Rolling stone and what not, as they say.
I must say I suffered from buyer's remorse and did what I had to get out of it. I must admit to feeling stifled and suffocated at the prospect that I would be tied up for 3 years and my dreams and plans to travel the world knotted. The nice people at Rogers (@RogersElise) helped me out and now I can breathe. The experience made me think about commitment in the modern age and why and how it fares among the options of not-committing that abound in our modern society. Why commit to a cell phone plan when Koodo, Fido, Virgin and the new ones, PublicMobile and Chatr, offer decent options without the long-term contract? What are the benefits to committing? I ask this question of myself and of you a different way: why commit to one person when you can date all kinds of nice people without the long-term contract? What are the benefits of commiting?
It's nice to know with Rogers, or Bell or Telus have your back in a contract if your phone fails or breaks or something bad happens. I know people like Mitz or Adam (@atorboy85) who have committed to a company like Rogers for what seem like eons, (Mitz has been with Rogers since the Motorolla flip handset as seen in this old commercial). They get first dibs on new phones, a reliable company and the confidence that they are building a relationship. I know because I've asked what happens if my Koodo phone falls or breaks, I've found out I am SOL. Shucks!
Suffice it to say, I am not ready for Christmas. Yes, I'm planning all kinds of social events and parties and getting in the mood for it. I at least know how I'd like to decorate or what kind of decorations I'd like to put up. But I have no list for others or myself, I still need to paint to bring in the season with a fresh, clean palette. I have not really worked on the family thing, as yet. They say the holidays tend to be depressing, especially for single people, I can only imagine. I may chose to be a single woman but I don't spend my days or nights alone. Instead of being depressed that I haven't a partner (yet) or little ones to put presents under the tree (yet), I use this gift of freedom to see my friends, host parties for them, make myself available to family as needed, and be the best Nenny Mur I can be to my nieces. Let's just say that this time, I'm getting ready. Having had a touch of the commitment thing and all the ramifications it brings, I'm at the least, looking at it more seriously. I encourage you to get your house (the proverbial house, or in Christendom, the temple that is your body) ready for Christmas and the end-of-year celebrations.
