I was in line at the supermarket the other day waiting to check out. While doing so, I overheard the conversation of the customer ahead of me and the clerk at the counter. They were talking about Christmas, which I figured was appropriate since it had happened just the day before. The clerk mentioned to the customer about how, while she enjoyed her holiday, she didn’t like it as much as she used to. She blamed it on a phrase that I’ve heard multiple times in the past month or two: the “commercialization of Christmas.”

I blame it on growing up.

Think about it. I doubt anyone between the ages of 3 and 13 cares about how early Christmas music is playing in the stores, or how early the displays go up, who has the best Black Friday sales, or how much is being spent or not spent by the American public. Instead, they are lost in the mystery of the season.

Somehow, as we get older, we miss the anticipation of the season, the joy found in the celebrations, and the love that is wrapped up in each gift. We tend to focus more on fact, and less on feeling. Anticipation, joy, and love are replaced with dates and dollar signs.

The challenge is not in battling the corporations vying for our money in a struggling economy (who can blame them?). The challenge is in rediscovering the feeling of Christmas. As usual, my hindsight is 20/20. (;