Bah Humbug- A Truce With Holiday Tradition

Bah Humbug - A Truce With Holiday Tradition

Christmas Eve is usually a deadline. Tonight at Questions That Matter we’re offering a sanctuary from all that. It’s not a party in the traditional sense; it’s a ceasefire.

For tonight's discussion we’re going to be using a series of prompts designed to bypass the social gloss.

In a season obsessed with accumulation, we’ll be focusing on subtractive generosity. We’ll be challenging each other to give the gift of relief—releasing each other from expectations, granting permission to be imperfect, and offering the kind of unvarnished listening that is becoming the rarest commodity in the modern world.

If you’re tired of the plastic smiles and the obligatory merry-making that come with the Christmas Holidays, come sit with us and don’t be alone on Christmas Eve. We aren’t promising chestnuts roasting on an open fire, but we can promise you won’t have to placate an annoying family member.

Our potential prompts for the night are going to be a bit different for this Christmas Eve’s Questions That Matter Night:

1. The Subtractive Gift. This prompt is built around the idea of taking things away. The ultimate anti-consumerist gift isn't adding more - it's removing pressure, obligation, or the weight of having to perform.

2. The Hard Truth. This question will be around giving Information and reality as gifts. Not silver linings.

3. The Permission Slip. We’re often terrible at permitting ourselves to be human. This question is inspired by the idea of someone else helping to grant it.

4: The Competence Gift. This prompt will be about helping with a practical gift - not advice, but actual capabilities you wish others had access to.

5: The Trust Gift. Trust is rare and valuable. This will be a prompt around what it might actually look like to extend it.

6: The Shared Darkness. Vulnerability kills shame. Your honesty might be the permission someone else needs to stop pretending.

7: The Mirror. This prompt acknowledges that we’re often blind to our own best traits. Sometimes the gift is showing someone what they can't see alone.

As usual, the goal of the night isn’t simply to agree, disagree, or learn. It’s also to connect through genuine, lively, interactive discussion and, potentially, to go to some of the unexpected and uncharted places that deep and free conversation can take us.

When we wrap up, around 8 p.m., we hope you’ll mingle, exchange numbers, and head out with some of us for something to eat or drink. As polarized as the world is right now, one of the deepest connections still available to human beings is a shared meal or drink.

Whether you’re in Chiang Mai for a short visit or you’re a longer-term expat or resident, we hope you can join us, not only in exploring the deeper questions but in making new connections and friendships through the discussions.

If possible, please support the venue, 4seas, by purchasing a beverage or a snack. They are kindly providing the space to us at no charge.

We all look forward to meeting you!