Priorities, Christmas, and the Narnia Tag!

Hello, everyone! This time of year is hectic. Whenever the holiday season kicks off, I am always confident that I’ll have enough time to finish making or buying gifts, but that time runs out far too quickly. I usually find myself scrambling to finish wrapping last-minute gifts on Christmas Eve.

This year, I have a lot of people on my gift-giving list, and I could not be more excited. With countless creative projects and ideas bouncing around in my head, it has become a chore to juggle them while also balancing other responsibilities. I’m glad that I started preparing for Christmas before Thanksgiving.

Since Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, I always used to get annoyed if anyone started playing Christmas songs before November was over and done. I would scowl when I saw the neighbors setting up their Christmas decorations the day after (or the week before) Thanksgiving. Their excitement for Christmas seemed to me hasty and ill-timed, almost an insult to Thanksgiving, which was just as worthy of a holiday.

How my sentiments have changed. I’m afraid I have become the very thing I swore to destroy, or however that saying goes. I created a Christmas playlist last January. (Whether that is woefully late or insanely early, you can judge.) I officially started listening to Christmas songs in October. I wanted to decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving but didn’t get around to doing it until the first week of December.

Why do people skip over Thanksgiving and go straight to Christmas? Is it because the holiday of gift-giving overshadows the holiday of thanksgiving? Do people love decorating for Christmas? (I can understand that.) Do they prefer to celebrate the holiday of Santa Claus, red-nosed reindeer, and nutcrackers because it is far more palatable than a holiday that can be definitively traced back to its Christian roots? Who knows? I’ve never found a satisfactory answer to that question.

I do know that I am very excited about this Christmas because of how many people I want to give presents to. Gift-giving has always been one of my favorite aspects of the Christmas season. Anyway, that’s what I’ve been up to. This blog post seems far too short, though, so I think I will take the opportunity to do a new blog tag! It’s Narnia-themed. (:

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The Narnia Tag

I was very excited to see that I had been tagged for this by Maya Joelle. Created by S.J. Barnard, this tag is for fans of Narnia, which I certainly am.

These books made up a significant portion of my childhood, and I have fond memories of my mom reading them out loud to my family. The movies are fun to watch as well. You might say that Narnia was what first made me love the fantasy genre.

So let’s begin!

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The Rules

• Thank the person who nominated you (Thanks, Maya!)
• Describe the rate of your Narnia fanatic (nostalgic, serious, maniacal)
• Answer the questions below
• Tag 5+ bloggers
• Have fun!

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Rate of Narnia Fanatics:

1. Nostalgic Fanatic—You read the book and/or watched the movies as a child and the word Narnia gives you a warm feeling

2. Serious Fanatic—You rediscovered the wonder of Narnia after you were older and have read the books and watched the movies

3. Maniacal Fanatic—You have lived Narnia from childhood, hid in closets on more accounts than is healthy, have read and watched all the movies including the BBC version

Now, I can’t say I’m really maniacal about Narnia. I never hid in a closet, but I have seen the BBC version. In fact, I sometimes get the different versions of the movies confused in my head, thinking there should have been a conversation about Aslan here, or a different line inserted there.

I’d say I’m solidly in the middle of Serious Fanatic and Maniacal Fanatic.

(I really should see if we actually own the BBC version or just got it from the library. It would be cool to watch it again for nostalgia’s sake.)

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The Questions:

1. Who is your favorite Pevensie sibling?

Very, very tough question. When I was young, I liked Susan. Learning of her choice in The Last Battle was crushing to me. I never saw her character the same way again. The idea that someone could so easily brush aside and even forget the wonderful things they had seen and experienced was painful to me, and I vowed never to be like that. I suppose that is the idea C.S. Lewis sought to convey, that experiences without true faith were useless. Susan made a terrible choice, but I always believed there was still hope for her.

I never especially liked Peter, perhaps because he was not in as many of the books. I think Edmund was my favorite for a while due to his character development throughout the series, but I always come back to Lucy. Because of her boundless faith and joy, she is very close to Aslan, and that is how I would want to be.

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2. What is the most underrated Narnia book?

Part of me wants to say The Silver Chair, but everyone knows and loves that book (mostly because of Puddleglum, I’m sure). The Horse and His Boy is my personal favorite Narnia book, and everyone I’ve talked to loves it as well. Then there’s The Last Battle, but I don’t think that one’s technically underrated.

I’d have to say The Magician’s Nephew. The book has such a unique premise and story, laying the foundation for all of Narnia. It deserves to be acknowledged more than it is.

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3. Who is your favorite Narnian king?

Probably Edmund, or Rilian from The Silver Chair.

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4. Who is your favorite Narnian queen?

Jadis, of course.

(I’m kidding.)

I’d have to say Susan! She’s really cool as a Queen of Narnia. I always loved her crown. (Eight-year-old me certainly didn’t try to make a crown like hers out of tin foil after watching the movie…)

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5. Which non-human Narnian do you like best?

Aslan!

But also Bree from The Horse and His Boy.

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6. Which book deserves a movie?

Ohhhh…why this question? I would absolutely love to see The Last Battle, but I’m afraid of how it might be construed. My vote is for The Horse and His Boy. It’s such a fascinating story.

7. What is one thing you did as a Narnia fanatic you do not regret?

What is there to regret? I have loved reading the Chronicles of Narnia and (for the most part) watching the movie adaptations. If there was anything to regret at all, it would be not watching The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe sooner.

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I will tag the following bloggers to take part in this, if they so choose…

• Ashley at The Everhart Author
• Emily at The Ink-Stained Desk
• Elisha at The Voyaging Storyteller
• Gloria at Pink Pen Ink
• A.N. Parker at Tales of the Spiral Blog
• Anyone else who wishes to do it!

Thanks for reading, friends! Have a wonderful December and go read the Chronicles of Narnia!