I've been thinking about consumerism lately and not just because of the Occupy movements. I've been inspired by the efforts of Laurie over at Crazy Aunt Purl to de-clutter, spend less (and wiser), and by Benita's DIY over at Chez Larsson.
Jean's blog (and the comments) since last Friday started me thinking about the upcoming holidays. Now, I love Christmas - it's my favorite holiday and nothing can beat a Christmas tree with hundreds of lights on it. I'm not into knick knacks - except for Christmas. Then I don't have enough surface space in my house.
Maybe it's part-and-parcel of getting older, but the commercialism is wearing on me - and not just for Christmas. I cannot believe how early merchandise is displayed. This year, the back-to-school items were still on the shelves when the Halloween items came out. Christmas items have been on display since the beginning of November. What happened to the days when this did not happen until after Thanksgiving?
What happened to common civility and decency? Pepper spray to get ahead in Black Friday lines? Seriously, people?
The difficult part, for me, is how to insulate myself from the commercialism while immersing myself in the customs or traditions of our respective families. Here are some tactics I use to insulate myself: skip TV commercials; ignore newspaper ads and flyers; turn down the radio during commercials when listening to Christmas music; avoid malls and any big box stores not just on Black Friday, but during the entire season.
What I'd like to know is if the holiday season is this commercialized and insane in other first world countries or is this insanity limited within the borders of the U.S. (Somehow I just can't see Canadians pepper spraying others to be first in line to buy electronics. Another reason Canada seems like such a nice place to live.) I know I have some readers who live outside the U.S. Please leave a comment on what the holiday season is like where you live.
Our Christmas gift giving has been scaled back in recent years, but this year, I'm going to make even more of an effort to shop locally. One of the ways we're going to scale back is to spent less on gifts and send what we would have spent to some charities. (My favorites are local food pantries, the local humane society, the Heifer International, and Doctors Without Borders.) While we can't afford to give large amounts of money, I think each dollar helps. I can't begin to imagine how the world economic situation is affecting charities.
One would think that the natural option for me would be to give hand knits, but I hate knitting on a deadline and it's too late this year for a slow knitter like me.
Maybe for next year.
If I start in January.
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