Saying “No” to a Commercialized Christmas This Year
It’s that time of year again! Here in the TSG household we’re saying “No” to a commercialized Christmas. How? We’re embracing a low key Christmas and not obsessing about stacks of gifts. That usually only equals stress so we’ve decided to skip that and enjoy each others company and exchange no more than a few small gifts. During this strangely warm Boston December, I’m here to wish you and your family a very Merry non-commercialized Christmas.
Why exchange only a few gifts? Because I hate shopping just for the sake of shopping. Instead, while traveling if I see something that reminds me of someone, I’ll pick it up at that moment. This way my gift to them shows I was thinking of them and not rushing to the mall to fight the crowds to buy something in December simply for the sake of buying them a gift to stick under the tree. Yes, I’m sticking with saying “No” to a commercialized Christmas this year.
Guess it helps, too, that I decided not to decorate for the holidays either. I’m not talking minimal decoration either. I’m saying NO DECORATIONS whatsoever. My neighbors are probably confused as to what is going on over here. While I enjoy seeing other people decorate their homes, the amount of money and energy needed to do this seems somewhat extravagant this year for me.
My number one gift to myself on this extra special day is mandating no computer time and only minimal smartphone time. That means I won’t be online writing posts or using social media and that’s the best gift I can give to myself. That and being able to sleep in past 5:30 am, which is my usual wake up time.
I’ll be back on Saturday to get back to my regular routine as I’m sure everyone else will, too. No matter what your personal beliefs are, Christmas is a special time of year and deserves more than to be considered a commercialized Christmas shopping holiday. I hope everyone will consider unplugging from their electronics and choose instead to snuggle a little bit closer with those you love. Oh, and hold off on eating too much chocolate or really good Christmas cookies. (Ok that was probably more for me than for you, but work with me here.)