Buy Nothing Day
Tomorrow, 24 November is International Buy Nothing Day.
It really gets most support in Canada and the U.S. In the latter, today is Thanksgiving and tomorrow one of the biggest shopping days of the year. The juxtaposition of the two is interesting.
I have come to understand that learning to be grateful for what we have - no matter how little - is the secret of true happiness and the ability to show gratitude and give thanks for one's life and the people in it is a great blessing.
It is such a pity that in our culture holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas have been hijacked by commerce and people feel that unless they spend a lot of money they are not showing true love or care for those nearest to them. It is particularly difficult for those who have children and do not wish to deny them the expensive toys that their offspring have been manipulated into wanting by the manufacturers.
I am feeling the pressure too from my family who really do go overboard at this time of year and who seem to think that the bigger the heap of presents under the tree on 25 December the better a Christmas it must be. To show any lack of enthusiasm for this consumerist feeding frenzy is to be likened to Ebenezer Scrooge. I am not a christian but I can only commiserate with those christians who lament that the true message of Christmas is lost.
Still, while it is good to give presents as tokens of our love to our nearest and dearest, it is more important to show that love all the year round in moral as well as financial support. The consumerist orgy that we indulge in pretty much nearly 365 days a year is putting us all in peril - including those to whom we wish to demonstrate our devotion.
Do something really nice and really necessary for someone you love tomorrow and buy them nothing.
It really gets most support in Canada and the U.S. In the latter, today is Thanksgiving and tomorrow one of the biggest shopping days of the year. The juxtaposition of the two is interesting.
I have come to understand that learning to be grateful for what we have - no matter how little - is the secret of true happiness and the ability to show gratitude and give thanks for one's life and the people in it is a great blessing.
It is such a pity that in our culture holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas have been hijacked by commerce and people feel that unless they spend a lot of money they are not showing true love or care for those nearest to them. It is particularly difficult for those who have children and do not wish to deny them the expensive toys that their offspring have been manipulated into wanting by the manufacturers.
I am feeling the pressure too from my family who really do go overboard at this time of year and who seem to think that the bigger the heap of presents under the tree on 25 December the better a Christmas it must be. To show any lack of enthusiasm for this consumerist feeding frenzy is to be likened to Ebenezer Scrooge. I am not a christian but I can only commiserate with those christians who lament that the true message of Christmas is lost.
Still, while it is good to give presents as tokens of our love to our nearest and dearest, it is more important to show that love all the year round in moral as well as financial support. The consumerist orgy that we indulge in pretty much nearly 365 days a year is putting us all in peril - including those to whom we wish to demonstrate our devotion.
Do something really nice and really necessary for someone you love tomorrow and buy them nothing.
posted by voluntarysimpleton at 11:28 AM
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