This will be a very tall order for some of us. Sarah Wilson, of ‘I Quit Sugar’ fame, wants us all to give up Christmas.
Except she doesn’t, of course, at least, not entirely. What she does want us to do is to give up exchanging gifts. |
| If you’re going round to Sarah Wilson’s house this Christmas, make sure you don’t get her a present. |
“It’s all s**t no one wants. S**t that takes up room in miscellaneous kitchen drawers and precious resources on the planet. Like gold-plated business card clips. And, sorry to target Goop, but, seriously … a Nymphenburg trio of porcelain wine bottle stoppers?! For $1900?
“I have an antidote. A better solution. A better guide. If someone is ‘hard to please’ it generally means they don’t want/need stuff. So don’t buy it.”
She goes on to explain that she specifically requests no gifts on Christmas and birthdays, preferring pictures of flowers to genuine flowers, and ‘experiences’ (kayaking, surfing etc) instead of presents.
 |
| “Dear Santa, this year I don’t want anything for Christmas,” is definitely NOT what this boy is saying. Picture: iStockSource:istock |
And really, Sarah does make an excellent point. As I run around Westfield looking for the gifts for my kids’ teachers and random friends (A mug? A scented candle? A set of novelty salt and pepper shakers?) I am painfully aware of how frivolous my gifts are.
But still, would anyone want to celebrate a Christmas without gifts?
Now, I’m Jewish, so I don’t give gifts to immediate family on Christmas Day. I do, however, give small Chanukah presents, and I certainly feel passionately about the importance of gifts and giving. We celebrated my daughter’s eighth birthday last week and I adored watching her open her presents — even the umpteenth-Barbie and the may-never-use craft.
And on my own birthdays, I love receiving gifts. Life is hard, and I believe that we should celebrate the good stuff. Throw parties. Give gifts. Light candles. Eat cake. Do all the things! It’s really only one day of the year.
And Christmas? Well, from what I can see Christmas is also a time of great celebration. And yes, people can sit around and exchange donation cards and enjoy each other’s company and that is wonderfully valuable. But there is something supremely joyful about handing over a present and watching the receiver open it. Unwrapping your own gifts is also terrific fun. And yes, you probably don’t ‘need’ your gift but isn’t that the point? Presents are for wanting, not needing.
Otherwise they’d be socks.
Surely, at Christmas time as at every time, there can be a middle ground. A Kris Kringle instead of multiple gifts for all. A spending limit so that no-one is buying the $1900 bottle stoppers. Handmade gifts instead of store bought, for those artistically inclined.
But keep some kind of gift-giving on Christmas and birthdays. A world without frivolous gifts being exchanged and enjoyed is a world a little less magical.
And call me a rampant consumerist all you want, but I love mugs and scented candles. Anytime you want to send one my way, I promise I’ll thrilled to bits.
Kerri Sackville writes the blog Love and Other Crises. Follow her on Twitter@KerriSackville
Read More At Viral DotCom
0 comments :
Post a Comment