We’ll Be Home for Christmas This Year
By: Jap Luistro
Christmas has always been a grand affair, more so for a nation that loves the season so much that people look forward to it and prepare months before it even arrives.
Malls are thriving with shoppers looking for the perfect gifts for their loved ones. Offices, schools, and restaurants are abuzz with festive cheer as friends and colleagues gather and celebrate like no other. The churches are flocked with the faithful as they observe the traditional misa de gallo leading up to Christmas Day.
But this year, these practices that we have grown accustomed to will have to be set aside as we continue to prioritize our health and safety in light of the ongoing pandemic. This is a huge shift in the way we celebrate the holidays, but this does not mean that the joyful spirit and true meaning of Christmas will be in any way diluted.
Here are some ways that you can virtually celebrate the Holidays:
1. Organize Online Christmas Parties
Our virtual collaboration tools like MS Teams and Zoom are not exclusively for meetings, training, or plenary sessions. We can use it to have some fun with our teammates too! Just figure out a specific date and time when everyone will get together, and you can catch up with one another at the comfort of your respective homes. Play online games together that would tickle your creativity and showcase your competitive senses to spice up your bonding moments even further. Try out some Virtual Escape Rooms that you can search for free on Google or have a go with an interactive guessing game like the one at skribbl.io.
2. Deliver Your Mystery Gifts
It’s not a Christmas party without the exchanging of presents! We may be missing out on the thrill of drawing someone’s name from a fishbowl but there are plenty of alternatives online that can help us out in picking our partners in gift-giving. Draw Names or Secret Santa Organizer will make things easier for you, ensuring that everyone in the group will receive a gift and that no one will pick their own name! Purchase your well-thought gifts or the things on their wish list from online merchant applications like Shopee or Lazada and have it delivered right at their doorstep! Just ensure that each member of the team is mindful of all safety protocols when receiving the packages from our friendly-neighborhood couriers!
3. Listen to Christmas Carols
With community quarantine in place, carolers are sure to be a rare sight and sound this season, and the uplifting beat of Christmas music is going to be missed. That is, unless you hook up your earphones on, open your YouTube or Spotify, search for your favorite classic Christmas carols, and play them on repeat. You very well know that it’s time for the legendary Mariah and the iconic Jose Mari Chan hits to conquer the airwaves once again. Or if you want to listen to an acapella spin of our all-time favorites, you can check out the vocal group Pentatonix, too.
4. Attend Virtual Evening Masses
When you speak of the Filipino community, you will find that there is no shortage in faith amongst them. And in a time when social distancing is the norm, several churches and institutions have taken the evening masses to their social media pages to take the Word of God into their homes so that the parishioners will no longer have to risk going outdoors. You can partake in the mass live and even go back to its recording at a later time. Some of those that offer these services are the Manila Cathedral and even the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
5. Spend Quality Time with Loved Ones
This time of the year is also the most opportune moment to simply relax, enjoy simple moments, and create lasting memories with those dearest to you. Have some time away from social media and truly focus on the most important things – the loved ones right by your side. Be there for them and be there with them. For when the virus is gone and the world is turning once more as it should, it might take a while before you get another chance to spend quality time with them again.
And there you have it, your five tips on how to spend a perfect holiday season while at home. At the end of the day, it does not truly matter where we are celebrating it, virtual or not. So long as we know and understand the true meaning of the occasion, then the Christmas spirit will never lose its shine.