Kinship, which are connections that exist because of family relationships or affinity through shared beliefs or goals, is important because we all need people. We’ve written a lot about the KINSHIP palette of Boysen Color Trend 2020.

KINSHIP Palette Boysen Color Trend 2020

Read
The Message of the KINSHIP Palette in Today’s World
Celebration of Undas in 2020
Artwork for the Kinship Palette

Yas (the millennial) and Annie (the boomer) wrote this article together as a celebration of the kinship we feel as part of the blog team. That kinship we also feel with Almira, who translated our words into images, nimbly straddling the aesthetics of a boomer and that of a millennial.

This article is more about our memories than about the colors. We’ve written so much about the colors that they need no additional descriptions. We hope that through our stories, you will also remember the many wonderful things about your own Christmas traditions.

Download the Boysen Color Trend 2020 brochure here.

Kinship During Christmas

In my family, the holiday season is usually filled with family gatherings and meet-ups with the barkada. Sharing meals in someone’s home and meeting in favorite restaurants are what keep us busy. That will not be happening this year so I am preparing myself for a quiet holiday season with virtual get-togethers. I’m hoping Messenger is not going to let us down this holiday season because that’s what everyone in my family is comfortable with.

(Move slider in the middle of the image to fully see a visual of Yas’ Christmas on the right, and Annie’s on the left.)

The KINSHIP Color Palette: Two Perspectives of Christmas | MyBoysenThe days leading up to Christmas are the worst days to travel by car normally.

But that didn’t deter me and my friends from spending time together. We would prepare for their departure and made the most of each other’s company while they were still in the city.

Around this time last year, we went out to watch movies, bought things we didn’t need, and ate Korean barbeque. A Korean barbeque restaurant was our go-to place. We didn’t mind smelling like grilled pork the whole day; it was the perfect place for us because as we grilled the samgyupsal, we had time to just talk about our love or work problems. Maybe that’s why it was such a hit, we had time to eat and exchange stories. It was even better with a shot of soju.

After days of going out, we’d exchange gifts and they’d head back to their respective hometowns. I would then spend the Christmas week with my family, which meant another week of eating out. That explained the holiday weight gain. Tita, this is the story of why and how I got fat.

This year, we will be doing the same thing except everything will be done online—from shopping and shipping our gifts to sharing our stories while eating our samgyupsal take-out.

Favorite Christmas Memory

I have many favorite Christmas memories, but one that really stands out because it was so much fun were the Christmas eves spent in my mom’s ancestral home. In the 50s, my grandparents started giving away goodies to the kids who lived in the immediate area around the town plaza. As the years passed, my parents took over and the kids reached thousands because even those who lived in other towns came.

As the kids grew in number, it became a whole afternoon of fun because added to the goodies, my parents organized games. From the 60s to the 80s, my father and a team of volunteers set up areas for the different activities. There was the climb-an-oiled-bamboo-pole, which I thought was very difficult. But the kids from 10 years old and up found that so easy because they were used to climbing coconut trees. They just had to master that oil bit.

Another game was taking out apples with the mouth from a huge basin filled with water. This was very difficult because children’s mouths are not that big and the apples would float away every time a child tried biting into one. Players dunked their heads in the basin of water anyway to trap the apple at the bottom of the basin so it was easier to get one. They came away from that with really wet heads but they didn’t care because there were prizes to be had.

Then were was another game of moving a coin from forehead to mouth without dropping it by making all kinds of faces while looking up. That was really hilarious. It was a good thing that at the time, there were no cameras around.

The KINSHIP Color Palette: Two Perspectives of Christmas | MyBoysenNineteen Christmas-eves ago, my lola would wake me up early and bring me to church. The 24th also happens to be my birthday and we have a tradition in the family to bring birthday celebrants to church to give thanks for another year of life. The jeepney fare was five pesos so it was easy and cheap to go to places. We’d visit three churches and we’d pray. My lola would teach me how to pray to the saints. I learned that you have to touch the statue and close your eyes as you say your prayer, and don’t forget to use your inside voice. After praying, she’d tell me stories about the saints, “That’s St. Anthony, we pray to him whenever we lose things and can’t find them.”

This Christmas memory is precious to me not because of the prayers I’ve learned or stories I’ve known about the saints but mostly because I loved spending time with my lola.

Cherished Christmas Outfit

In the 70s, when the colors brown, orange, mustard, and avocado green reigned, I felt so stylish when I had a new outfit for Christmas. It was a micro mini A-line skirt in dark brown, a form-fitting orange Ye Ye Vonnel top, and strappy, nude sandals to finish the look. Go google that, Millennials. I felt so stylish in it, and very hot! Ang init! What do you expect from acrylic yarn? Still, I strutted around in that new outfit feeling very trendy.

(Move slider in the middle of the image to fully see a visual of Yas’ Christmas on the right, and Annie’s on the left.)

The KINSHIP Color Palette: Two Perspectives of Christmas | MyBoysenIf I’m wearing a dress for a Christmas party, my mom probably chose that outfit for me. She used to make me wear dresses paired with lace ruffle socks and white shoes. But if it looked comfortable, I picked that. Seven-year-old me loved flared jeans, a t-shirt with a Disney character printed on it, sneakers, and stretchy headbands! Yes, fashion was never my strong suit.

My Choice of Christmas Decoration

We had really wonderful big Christmas trees with all the baubles, tinsels, and lights that my mother had acquired through the years.

But the one I loved the most were the Christmas trees made from a real brown tree called magay. These were our Christmas trees in the 60s before the importation of the first versions of the plastic trees we know today.

The magay had no foliage but just the thin trunk, limbs, and branches. This was placed in a big planter, and anchored with rocks. Then the whole household would start from morning to late afternoon covering the whole tree with snow. Snow in the Philippines?

Someone would shave bars of laundry soap using a hand planer, then the rest would get several handfuls of the shaved soap and put these in water in a medium basin. We would beat that mix until we got foam. That was loads of work and very good for toning the arms. When stiff peaks formed, these would be slapped onto the tree to simulate our version of snow. Then we would start again with a new batch. We had to wait to put in the decor when the soap was almost hard. We’d wrap the lights, push in the Christmas balls into the white stuff instead of hanging them, then finish it off with tinsel. For all the weeks that the tree was up, we’d sneeze our way around the house because of the overpowering smell of laundry soap.

But it was super fun, and the tree looked like those in the postcards, or in our imagination at least.

The KINSHIP Color Palette: Two Perspectives of Christmas | MyBoysenWe didn’t have a Christmas tree growing up. But I did see something inside our enormous wooden cabinet that looked like a Christmas tree buried under piles of stuff that we didn’t use. I thought my lola got tired of putting it up, she’s in her 70s—give her a break.

It was easier to decorate our home with lots of Christmas lights, Santa Claus candles, Santa Claus on a parachute, and Santa Claus holding a welcome home sign. I wasn’t a big fan of Saint Nick as a child because I mistook him for a ghost when the lights were off. Good thing there were Christmas lights, they illuminated our entire home. It was a beautiful sight and Santa didn’t look too scary to me.

Kindle the Kinship Feeling this Christmas

Watch this video to kindle the feeling of kinship with people who are close to you this Christmas. If there have been conflicts brought about by trying to survive these past difficult months, then be aware that the circumstances may have changed but not the bonds of blood and love.

As we experienced in making this article, it is really enjoyable to reminisce and write about the happenings of past Christmases. So try doing this with your beloved tribe.

Even if we are not going to be with many of our family members and friends this Christmas, let’s promise to enjoy the time to the fullest. If we need to make new traditions, then let’s be creative and find out what we can do to have the most fun.

Enjoy the holidays with music too. Read this post to see how you can book an artist to serenade you or your loved ones this season.

Read about the other palettes of Boysen Color Trends here.

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