(So Much to, a lot of) Give-and-Take, More-or Less: 'tis the Season (?) First Day, Second Year

Early and Often: As in "So Much", which I often include in a title, signaling a multi-part series within this "Viral" series, the umbrella blog of another title. As in 'tis the Season, which I captioned several posts last December...last December?! Is it already "That time of the year" again?! have I been posting that long that I find myself writing about these holidays twice already during this perplexing protracted pandemic? YES and YES! Well, I may as well start earlier (as in shopping) and often (as in the week after Thanksgiving as I missed the oppo to do so the day after, when everyone else seemed to be out, in line, or even the Monday after, while everyone else was on line)...as in a series within the series to really get you "in the spirit"!

One for Everyone, Under the Tree (pole): A holiday to celebrate within this season, spanning from...Halloween (you thought I was going to say Thanksgiving, didn't you?)...and on through...well, depending on what list you refer to, the Top Ten or Top Twenty, the dates of coverage could go either to May 3rd in the former case (Ramadan; Eid al-Fitr, 2022 for Muslims), and July 4th (Independence Day in the U.S.) in the latter...Yep, there's one for almost every country and culture, even more if you live in Cambodia (#1 with 28 "special celebrations"), Sri-Lanka (#2 with 25) or India/Kazakhstan (tied for #3 with 21) -- the U.S. doesn't even break into the "Top Ten Countries with Public Holidays", as ranked by "World Atlas" -- feel cheated, not in such good cheer? Well, just wait, because, thanks to "Seinfeld", apparently in response or anticipation of people who are not aligned with any of the other main line holidays, who find themselves outside looking in (like a few sad and lonely in the first "Home Alone"), there's now "Festivus"..."for the rest of us"! So, if you include this holiday, complete with a "Festivus" pole, we're gaining ground, on the "rest of yus"...

Caught up in the Yuletide, in and out of the Spirit(s)? No, silly, not those spirits of varying levels of "proof", but the spirit of Give-and-Take, the tide of More-or-Less. Which sides of these equations do you find yourself on? No matter which holiday you align yourself with, there will be whole lot of exchanging in the days to come (barring any new pandemic protocols) -- exchange of greetings, good cheer, gifts, prior to exchanging 'the day after', after some of us tried, with great finesse, to exchange something we got last year via "re-gifting!" (featured on another seasonal Seinfeld episode). All in the spirit of the time, in good cheer. So, do you identify more as a natural giver, one who loves seeing faces light up when they open what you gave them, or one who with eager anticipation, loses sleep thinking about the gift you saw with your name on it? If the latter, don't feel guilty; it doesn't necessarily make you greedy, especially if it brought joy to the 'giver', right😁? This doesn't even touch the category of how you give-and-take, whether you quietly, without fanfare hand someone a gift you purchased or made them, or instead call out their name in a head turning gesture. And, on the other end, do you try to defer opening a gift with great modesty, as if you don't deserve one, even after everyone around you has already opened a few -- or are you one that approximates the two brothers on "A Christmas Story", ripping through the bow wrapping paper with great enthusiasm, which someone took 1/2 hour to complete, so carefully, so thoughtfully, just for you, which you managed to shred beyond any recognition in a matter of seconds? Your answers to these questions will assist me as a professional in profiling your 'present persona'; it can reveal a lot about you, especially if you open up😔...