It can be difficult to reduce your consumerism during the holidays. It’s the time of year when everyone seems to be shopping. Even Thanksgiving, which should be as non-consumer of a holiday as there could be, is fraught with consumerism. This is often because people are thinking about shopping the sales on Thanksgiving, and so it gets swallowed up in the general holiday season consumerist bustle.
While you might have your own way to do reduce consumerism during the holidays, here are some of the things I’ve tried in order to save my sanity (and often a few bucks):
Talk About Experiences and Blessings During the Season
One of the things I’ve stopped doing is asking what others want for Christmas. And we don’t really have those discussions at home with our son. Rather than focusing on “what you get” for the holidays, we’ve started talking more about experiences and blessings during the holiday season. This is, of course, especially appropriate during Thanksgiving, but it doesn’t have to be limited to that.
We talk a lot about how fun it will be to spend time with family. We get to see our cousins. We get to go sledding. Won’t it be fun to just lounge around in our jammies and watch a favorite movie? I find that when we talk more about the experiences surrounding the holidays, and the positive emotions that come with spending time with friends and family during the holidays, it’s easier to focus on items that aren’t related to consumerism.
Additionally, we talk a lot about blessings and gratitude. We discuss the things we’re grateful for, and focus on what we have. This takes the focus off things we want, and keeps us, as a family, from getting too caught up in the non-essentials.
Help Others
It’s much easier to reduce consumerism during the holidays when you have ways of focusing on others. In many cases, an obsession with consumerism stems from a focus on self. I want this. I deserve this. Why don’t I have this? Taking some of the focus off self, and looking at how to help others, can cultivate gratitude, and reduce consumerism. So, if you take the time to perform service for others, or to take some of your belongings and donate them to a worthy cause or thrift store, you can help others and feel good about it. It’s hard to think about yourself when you are engaged in helping others — especially when you can see how lucky you are compared to other people. My son had a real eye-opener when he began to realize how good he really does have it.
Do Things Together
Finally, make sure you put your ideas into practice. I make sure that we do things as a family, whether it’s baking goodies for the neighbors, going to look at holiday lights as an activity, or whether it’s rounding up things to donate to the homeless shelter. Being able to work together, and build new memories to talk about, can really reduce the thought that goes into things, and put the focus on relationships that matter.
{ 0 comments… add one now }