Christmas is traditionally a time of joy. It's filled with carol-singers, a beautiful tree, gifts for Christmas morning and food, glorious food.
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It's when we see family, build memories, and share in the magic that only seems to exist around Christmas time.
With an English mother, I've been blessed to have a couple of Christmases in England and see snow fall in London while we were shopping in the dark as the sun sets at 4pm in the winter over there.
The magic just buzzes in the air in the UK at Christmas time - it's incredible to experience.
However, not every Christmas has involved Harrods on Christmas Eve.
I've also spent it on my own, eating baked beans on toast on the other side of the country to my family while my (now) husband was in the middle of the West Australian desert working.
I've spent it surrounded by moving boxes with Christmas Eve dinner being pizza on the floor after moving towns because we were homeless due to the housing crisis in the Hunter Valley thanks to the mining boom.
But I've always been lucky, and grateful. There has always been a present under the tree, food in my belly and a roof over my head.
The most recent estimates tell us that there are 116 thousand people experiencing homelessness in this country, and two in five of them are children and young people. This number has been trending up since 2006. ACOSS reports that just over 3 million people or 13.2% of the population are living below the poverty line including 739 thousand children.
Natural disasters impact these numbers as well. By December 21 of this year, the fires that are ravaging our land have taken the homes of 700 families and killed nine people with at least one still missing. That's nine grieving families and 700 families without a Christmas tree, a gift underneath it or a hearth to hang their stockings.
For many people, Christmas morning will not be a joyous occasion this year.
However, wherever there are crises, there are helpers.
They aren't always visible at first, but if you look, you will find them. They are the volunteers serving food at shelters and community centres around the country, they are people coordinating disaster relief, the thousands of fire fighters putting their lives on the line to battle the blazes and the paramedics and police who heard the call to serve. They are the department stores collecting toys under giant trees out the front of their doors for children who cannot be forgotten by Santa and they are the countless raffles and fundraisers run across the country to help our vulnerable community members.
The offer of a hot meal or a small toy might seem like a drop in the ocean for problems as catastrophic and huge as these, but for people who are living moment to moment, it can mean the world.
This time of year seems to have become a beacon that enhances our sense of community like no other, especially in times of hardship.
In these moments I take solace in the perspective that this season brings. If not joy, then it sparks hope that perhaps the Christmas spirit is still here, penetrating the smoke haze and searching for those souls who need it most.
For many, Santa doesn't wear a red and white suit, but a yellow RFS coat or the uniform of a community volunteer.
This time of year seems to have become a beacon that enhances our sense of community like no other, especially in times of hardship. It inspired a truce in World War I when French, German and British soldiers crossed the trenches to exchange seasonal greetings and play football.
It brings out our humanity, inspires us to see what we have in common, and it brings people together. We find ourselves reminded of our responsibilities to our neighbours, we volunteer and we remember and toast those whom we have loved and lost.
While Christmas can often be a time of stress, I am finding myself taking a step back this year and feeling gratitude for the basics that I have so often taken for granted. This has helped me shift my focus and panic less about buying 17 presents for each member of my family and be more present with my loved ones.
Merry Christmas and may you too find a glimpse of hope under the Christmas tree this year.
Zoë Wundenberg is a careers consultant and un/employment advocate at impressability.com.au