It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. There’s a buzz around ice rink and Christmas Market, attracting visitors and locals alike, a good excuse to spend an evening in the City. The cathedral and the Close look spectacular; with carol and special services to suit every taste. The panto is in full swing (Oh yes, it is…). Queues at Post Office counters. People are buying gifts that they don’t need for relatives they don’t like, struggling families slipping inexorably into debt to fulfil their children’s hopes and dreams and prevent them feeling left out on Christmas morning.

Charities that provide Christmas meals for the lonely are overwhelmed by last minute offers of help from volunteers who for their own reasons want to do their bit at Christmas, and wish that people’s generosity would be there all year round. Staff Christmas parties clutter our diaries and fill up the City’s pubs and restaurants; colleagues discover the real people behind the e-mail address.

This year, I find myself working on Christmas Day; spending time with those who normally see me either in or rushing between meetings; far too busy to exchange pleasantries or acknowledge a shared humanity. It will be a welcome change for both of us.

Whatever we think of the materialism and consumptive feast that has now become tradition; whether we resent its obscuring a deeper meaning, or welcome the temporary respite to austerity and relief for a town centre economy teetering on the brink of recession, you can’t fail to catch the Christmas spirit – whatever that is!

And just like a weekend break, summer holiday or enforced period of convalescence, the change from normality, gives one a chance to reflect and view the everyday from a different perspective.

After a few drinks at our office ‘staff’ do, one of my colleagues commented ‘we should do this more often’; effective teamwork depends on knowing the strengths and weaknesses of its other members; spending time to get to know each other as real people is the only way of doing that. So, slightly ahead of a New Year resolution, I’ve booked another evening meal for the team in the Spring.

I’ve also had a word with Santa about presents for my teenage son. I hope I’ve persuaded him to put things in his stocking that he really wants and which will last beyond the school holiday; still fun to open on Christmas morning, but with a longevity to match his growing maturity and concern for the planet.

More reflection too as the decorations go up; alongside familiar baubles; mementos that we’ve collected from summer holidays reminding us of sunnier times past and others to come; an Eiffel tower, a statue of liberty, a miniature piano from Mozart’s birthplace in Salzburg….

Whatever Christmas means to you, I hope the one that happens inside your head is peaceful and fulfilling.