"O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, I wish you had some symmetry..."
For all of the heavy and serious things I have posted on this blog, I thought I would share something light-hearted today. Anyone who suffers from OCD knows that some of the things we do are just funny. As I've written before, one of my main issues is perfectionism. I struggle with the need to have things be even, straight, and symmetrical. This can bring about some interesting challenges.
I am a "real tree" person. I grew up in a "real tree" family. I married a "real tree" woman and we are raising a generation of "real tree" kids. All of my grandparents, many of my family members, and most of my friends were "fake tree" people. I tried not to hold it against them. The crazy part of me could actually appreciate the symmetrical nature of these plastic pines, and, let's be honest, they hold presents as well as the real ones. Still, there's something about unboxing a synthetic spruce carried up from the basement that has always seemed lazy to me. There's just something about the smell of real pine that ushers in the holiday season. It mixes so well with cinnamon, cloves, and sugar.
The odd thing about my "real tree" obsession is that it actually competes with my perfection obsession. Think about it, have you ever seen a perfectly symmetrical tree with a straight trunk, perfectly green needles, and a perfect top branch so that the star or the angel isn't crooked? Oh sure, you may get one or two of those characteristics, but not all them. Choosing a tree, then, becomes a process of giving up some of the things that bug me in order to achieve others that I like. This seems entirely reasonable to normal people, but for crazy people, it becomes "Which one of these imperfect trees sucks the least." Not exactly a touching Hallmark holiday sentiment, huh?
This year it was nice to be able to admit to my lovely wife, as we were wandering the rows of tree possibilities, that this is a problem for me. In the past, I simply tried to hide it and often ended up just grumping through the experience. We chose a tree this year with most of the qualifications I desired and later this week, we'll bring it into our home to be part of our Christmas celebration. Then we'll have to decorate it and that carries with it a whole other set of issues, but one thing at a time, right?
Next Tuesday is Day 300, I'm working on something appropriate for the occasion. In the meantime, make the most of this holiday season, and go get a tree. It'll do you good.
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