Welcome to the Holiday Season 2010. This is our chance to buy, buy, buy, more, more, more! This is the time for mass consumption of food, beverage and material purchases!! Black Friday, Cyber Monday, BOGO--sales, sales, sales!! My head spins with the thought of the number of bargains I could be taking advantage of even. as. I. type. Here is my chance to get that big screen t.v, that leather work bag, that brand new microwave, game systems for my kids and a computer for the husband!!! Ca--ching!!!! I am sure by now you have recognized my sarcasm--oh, you were about to call to see if I needed a shopping partner? o_O Well then this post is for YOU!!
Full disclosure: I love this time of year!! The parties, the family, the food, the fun, the joy, the music, the tree, the lights, the...everything! What I don't like about this time of the year is the mad dash for over consumption. The non-stop commercials to buy more, as if love can be measured by dollars spent. Hey, I am not begrudging anyone who wants to go out and spend his/her hard earned money on gifts for family and friends (another disclosure: I love gifts). What I do not like is buying for buying's sake. What's that? I repeat, I do not like buying for buying's sake. I cannot stand to see people running to the malls, lining up outside of stores just because someone has said that there is a deal to be found. I cannot stand the thought of brand new things piling up in people's basements, attics, closets, crawl spaces, car trunks, etc. never to be used because there is just soooo much to wade through and so we forget we even have all that stuff.
All that stuff that could be getting used by someone else, all that stuff that could benefit someone else. All that stuff--stuff we buy to cover up our feelings of inadequacy, our lack of self-worth, our need for love, our desire to be the Joneses...a space that needs filling in our lives, so we became super consumers--"did you see what I just bought?" What about what you have done to help someone, change someone, impact someone? In these times of want, there are so many people in need--right in our backyards is someone who can benefit from our generosity, our kindness, our charity.
Listen, I am not saying that you shouldn't buy gifts or spend money on wanted items. What I am suggesting is that we all take stock of our lives and see where we overspend on frivolous things. Especially during these economic times. Especially during this time of the year. Especially...aw shucks, y'all--just help someone, somewhere, somehow. Peace.
Give Love on Christmas Day--Jackson 5
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