{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"'Tis The Season","description":"On this week's Keepin It Real, Cam Marston wants you to know he's NOT A CYNIC. But there are things this time of year that just kinda get to him... ----- \u2018Tis the season for pensive and sappy messages. I\u2019m so sorry but it\u2019s true. They\u2019re appearing in TV commercials, in client and vendor emails. Letters received in the mail about the joys of the season and now\u2019s the time to be grateful and all that. I hate being a cynic, but it all appears to be virtue signaling to me. The people I know sending these messages are savage businesspeople and it\u2019s like times running out and they\u2019re throwing a Hail Mary pass to make Santa\u2019s good list. Maybe these people really are kind and generous and are thankful for their bountiful blessings, and the season is a gift meant for a deeper understanding of the commonalities of mankind and that the cockles of their heart swell with the love of the joy of the togetherness of their fellow man and the brotherhood of the love of the oneness of all of us\u2026and all that. I can\u2019t help but roll my eyes. I seriously doubt many of these people have heart cockles. I question whether some of them even have hearts. But man, this time of year, people eat this stuff up. My father and I watched a lady on the local news early Sunday morning deliver such a message. Her message was about enjoying the season by simplifying it to the essentials. It\u2019s a similar message that we all hear over this time of year. I was unmoved. My dad, though, was over the moon about it. He thought it was great. He repeated the message aloud several times, full of energy. Dad, I wanted to say, you hear this same message over and over again every year. There\u2019s nothing new here. Instead, I kept quiet. The message made him feel good and I guess that matters for something. \u2018Tis season for extras, though. Whoever you are, you can justify something a little bit extra this time of year. \u201cIt only comes around once a year, so why not just a little more?\u201d we say. A little more to eat. An extra slice of pie or two. Maybe a whole extra pie. Fill the wine glass a little fuller than normal. Each time. An extra gift for someone and maybe an extra one for you, too. Leave the office a little early. And then a little earlier. And then earlier. Every day of the year only comes around once a year, but these are\u2026different. These days are a part of the Christmas season which, per the displays at Lowes, begins mid-October, making the Christmas season nearly a quarter of the year. Some, like my wife and kids, have no problems with this. What does it matter, they say, if we like the decorations and they make us happy? My position is that the shorter it is, the more intense and special it is. If your default mode is that it\u2019s nearly always Christmas, what\u2019s so special about it? At least that\u2019s what I say to myself, sitting all alone, while what remains of the cockles of my heart burn to cinders. I\u2019m Cam Marston and I\u2019m just trying to Keep it Real. ","author_name":"Keepin' It Real with Cam Marston","author_url":"https:\/\/cammarston.com\/keepin-it-real-with-cam-marston\/","html":"