If you’re like me, you might be having a hard time getting into the holiday spirit this year. With daily climbs in COVID-19 deaths and frequent warnings from health officials about a grim winter ahead, it feels difficult to garner much cheer as the holidays approach.
Even with the warm embrace of small homecomings with family and friends waiting around the corner, it’s hard to let go of the bleakness that surrounds us and reach for the “joy” switch that we often flick on easily as the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers go.
I struggled with this dilemma recently as I sat down to pick out a Christmas movie to watch. None of the usuals — the Elves, Christmas stories, and Rudolphs of the world — seemed like they would do the trick. The holly jolly Christmas mood suddenly seemed too stark a contrast to the world around me. No offense to the classics, but it’s going to take more than some claymation singalongs to make me forget that I’ve been on unemployment since April.
So instead I reached for an old favorite, one that often feels too sappy and even a bit too existential to kick off the holiday season, the 1946 classic “It’s A Wonderful Life.” And as I started watching, it struck me just how fitting this movie was for the strangest year any of us can remember.
The resemblances to our collective 2020 storylines were uncanny, from George Bailey’s attempts to travel the world getting thwarted at every turn, to he and Mary’s suddenly altered wedding plans, right down to the rich bald man who uses an economic downturn to grow his personal wealth to obscene levels (paging Mr. Bezos).
I couldn’t help but laugh at some of the connections, but I also couldn’t help but find hope in the film’s moral thesis. In his darkest moments, George looks back at his life and feels as though everything has gone wrong, but he is ultimately saved when he recognizes the beauty and value in his seemingly mundane existence.
While all the wonders of the world waited beyond Bedford Falls’ limits, George, like so many of us this year, made do with what was in front of him. And while his life didn’t become what he wanted it to, it was still a wonderful life, and he realizes this despite the ever-enticing, quintessentially American siren song of “But what if it could be better?”
So this year, I urge you to put on “It’s A Wonderful Life” and let go of the “what ifs” for a few hours. Let yourself forget about the canceled trips, postponed wedding parties, lost career opportunities and “wasted” hours indoors. Reflect instead on the good you’ve done, the lives you’ve touched, and the positive experiences you’ve been able to mold out of the mountain of crap that was this year.
This may be tougher for some than others, given what life has thrown at so many of us. If you think everything I’m writing is, to quote Mr. Potter, “sentimental hogwash,” that’s fine. Put on “Elf” and laugh the pain away, or put on “Die Hard” and watch John McClane blast this year away in a hail of Christmas gunfire.
But if you feel it’ll help to try and appreciate who or what you have and embrace the curveballs, pop this classic on the TV (VCR preferably, black and white version) and remember that just because this year wasn’t what any of us had hoped it would be, it doesn’t mean there isn’t some wonder to be found in it.
Brian Higgins
Brian Higgins is a writer and comedian in Salt Lake City.