OpinionsPublic EngagementIf December is life

If December is life

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December is the last month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars that has full of ironies. Last means the end, and this month means closing many things, including paying or obligating all financial commitments as well as the last month of the taxable year.

And talking about money, December is indeed ironic because it is when workers, but only those regulars and with fixed sources of employment, are extraordinarily abundant with all the bonuses the law has offered them. Still, it shows more irony of life when there is lurking poverty of many amidst the abundance of a few.

December is an excellent time to save, but this has become an excellent time to spend a lot because others do, not only for the self but for significant others or not who asked for Christmas gifts, directly or indirectly.

Indeed, Christmas makes some people extra generous because they have something to give, and this has culturally legitimized others to ask, jokingly, or earnestly. Ironically, the spirit of giving and the consequent spirit of receiving, which are bounded by Filipino values of reciprocity, may have already eroded or engulfed with materialist desires. Meanwhile, others may be hesitant also to ask or to give due to differential positions or perceived embarrassment for possible rejection.

But beyond the money side, December is often associated with life or how we journey. In the May-December romance, May is associated with middle or younger age, while December is referred to as a person of advanced age, either a man or a woman. So December is symbolically relating to an older person, but this month is also a celebration when Baby Jesus, the Christ our savior, was born to this world as a human.

Thus, December is ironically the end of an old life and the beginning of a new life. It is not January, which is just the start of the calendar year–a New Year–except those cultures that practice the Lunar New Year, which may also fall in February.

Indeed, December is ironic because it is a convergence of two periods and characters in life: old age and infancy, wisdom and innocence. Physically, it symbolizes death and birth, but we find our replacement from those we biologically or sociologically reproduced. Cognitively and behaviorally, it symbolizes our wealth of knowledge amidst the lack of it among the young or perhaps different from it.

But amidst all these ironies, and others I failed to mention here, we are assured that some young people will carry our legacies and correct where we went wrong.

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Author’s email: [email protected]

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