Since becoming a Buddhist, I have had difficulty celebrating two Christian holidays, Easter and Christmas. Most people would point out the differences in faith, being the obvious reason as to why. However my problem is more with the commercialization and junk food associated with the holidays.
So here I sit wondering what to do this weekend with my children, 6 and 4 years old. I spoke with my husband and we agreed to do the egg coloring, and allow the Easter Bunny to leave baskets and hide the eggs. I'm thinking more of a celebration of Spring, without the 3 pounds of candy normally associated with the holiday.
This issue with the holidays changed somewhat after seeing the movie, Rise of the Gaurdians. If you haven't seen the movie, it truly is a wonderful family movie. The story is about these figures (Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy and the Sandman) needing Jack Frost's help to defeat the Boogie Man, or Pitch Black.
The premise of the movie is as long as a child believes in the figures, they are real, they exist. Therefore their job is to protect the children, allow them to be children with a sense of wonder and hope. Jack isn't believed in as a real figure, he is more of a concept, and therefore cannot be seen by any child.
I won't get into any more details of the movie, because I'm horrible about giving movies away. Not as bad as the guy who told my husband about the kid in The Sixth Sense, but kind of bad.
What I love about this movie is the characters are not what I was familiar with as a kid. Santa in this movie is a two-sword carrying Russian who just takes charge. The Tooth Fairy is not the delicate princess thing I imagined, but this bird/person/fairy person. The excitement she has about teeth actually makes me want to floss better. The Easter Bunny is my favorite character in this movie. Instead of the fluffy, white bunny, we get a boomerang carrying Aussie that doesn't put up with much. Unfortunately, I never imagined what the Sandman looked like, because the concept of someone sneaking into my room in the middle of the night to give me dreams, creeped me out. A fat man can break into my house and leave gifts, a fairy can purchase my teeth and a bunny can leave me candy, but I drew the line at dreams.
After watching this movie, I really wanted to celebrate Christmas and Easter, plus I was more excited about my daughter's loose tooth. Why is this?
The movie didn't even touch on religion. It was simply about children believing in magic and wonderful things. By believing in wonderful figures, they are using their imagination and creativity to chase away the Boogie Man. If you take the religious and marketing aspect away from Christmas and Easter, what's left?
The Easter Bunny in the movie said that Easter was about hope and new beginnings. I totally agree, it's Spring. Grass is growing, flowers are flowering, trees are starting to flower or grow leaves. The days are getting longer; their is more time after school or work to go outside and enjoy each other. It is truly a time to celebrate the beauty in the world and the time you get to spend with those close to you.
