Perhaps even more dreadful than shopping for gifts this time of year is the thought of receiving yet more stuff that I don't need or want, feigning a smile of appreciation at the thoughtfulness of the giver upon my “surprise” at opening their gift. I don't need more stuff. Does anyone hear me? And you probably don't either.
Oh, but what about the latest coffee flavors this season – crawfish, Spanish moss, or jungle rot? I'll bet they haven't tried those. Some spicy radish coffee would surely surprise her. And the kumquat-kimchee wheat beer that I bought at a discount in bulk at Costco is bound to impress my son. I'll bet he's never tried that before!
I'm on a first name basis with the employees at Goodwill that I see regularly at their back dock. I keep them busy with a steady stream of stuff. Earlier in life I was in an accumulation phase, building my empire with ever more stuff, but since rounding the corner on the back side of life, the object now is to distribute as much of it as I can so that someone else doesn't have to take their time to toss my stuff into a dumpster at the end.
I'm pleased to say that I have made a huge dent in ridding myself of unused stuff that has accumulated in my closet and basement. It is gratifying that everything we own fit into one moving truck the last time we moved. But I'd still like to cut it down to having less stuff and living more simply, at least until next Christmas.
When
can we finally admit that Christmas gift-giving no longer serves any
purpose other than the purchase of vast quantities of stuff nobody
wants or needs? Generations ago, before everyone could buy whatever
they wanted on credit, Christmas was the one time when some portion
of the savings that had been painfully accumulated by sacrifice would
be doled out for small gifts, typically a consumable treat, modest
toys for children or a necessity.
Compare that tradition with
today's frantic frenzy to find something new that recipients don't
need or want and retailers' equally frantic search for new markets:
your gerbil doesn't have a plush new bed? Shame on you! Imagine its
anguish when everyone else is surrounded by piles of shredded
wrapping paper and your poor pet didn't get a single present...
where's your Christmas spirit?
The most appreciated gift you
can give is a suggestion to end the obligation to exchange gifts. To
state the honest truth - we don't want or need anything else, and
don't have space for anything else, thank you - is a gift few are
willing to risk saying, but everyone heaves a sigh of relief when one
brave person asks to be relieved of the burden of buying another
mountain of stuff nobody wants or needs.
Freeing ourselves of
unwanted/unneeded gift-giving is not just heresy in a debt-funded
consumerist economy - it seems tantamount to treason. But why should
an honest appraisal qualify as both heresy and treason? The honest
truth is hearts don't leap with joy at receiving another unwanted,
unneeded thing; hearts sink at the task of moving the gift into some
corner of the already-stuffed closet or donating it. What was the
point of all this costly frenzy again? To keep a debt-dependent
consumer economy from imploding? Is that what Christmas has become?
What's scarce isn't more stuff. What's scarce is time,
reflection and the generosity of spirit. We're so busy loading the
conveyor belt of unwanted, unneeded stuff in and out of our homes
that we have no time to actually spend on what is valuable.
Adapted from the blog of Charles Hugh Smith, December 11, 2020
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