Holiday Wishes from World Screen’s Anna Carugati

The holiday season is upon us, and for many, that means spending time with family and consuming a bit more than we should in food and drink. While we all know the pleasures and potential harm of too much fat, sugar and alcohol, nowadays, given the fraught political climate in so many countries, family time can also lead to heated, intractable arguments.

So here are my wishes for this season:

Perhaps this could be a time for more listening to an opinion different from ours and understanding how that opinion was shaped.

Perhaps we don’t really need to win every argument; isn’t a peaceful afternoon or evening worth biting our tongues a little bit?

Perhaps we could all benefit from being less quick at doling out judgments and condemnations—unfortunately, we are not going to fix the ills of the world during a family gathering.

For sure, we need to be more attuned to facts, not “alternative facts” or seas of opinion.

For sure, we can benefit from genuine feelings of appreciation—for the love of family and friends, for our health, for our employment, for the endless hours of television shows available to us.

Yes, if the tension starts to mount during the holidays, we can always switch the subject to favorite TV shows—that’s safe territory. And if the gathering hasn’t gone the way we had hoped, we can always treat ourselves to bingeing that beloved show, or the one we haven’t gotten to yet.

And a very special wish to the ill, unemployed or those for whom this holiday season is particularly rough, for all who feel isolated or alienated from the festivities—may your situation improve soon.

Finally, for now, and the coming year, may we all keep kindness top of mind. More than an expensive gift, a kind word, gesture or act is priceless.

All of us at World Screen wish you a peaceful and serene holiday season, and health and happiness throughout the New Year.