Our lecture on friday about about "why we buy things" made me realize that I'm actually quite a scrooge when it comes to Christmas. I don't really enjoy buying presents for people because it stresses me out figuring out what to get within my budget and as much as I love feeling the presents under the tree and ripping them open on the 25th I'm usually disappointed with the outcome as my family don't have a clue what I like or need no matter how many pointers I give them. I may seem ungrateful but as I'm all about reducing waste I don't want useless presents that I'm going to keep for a few months and then get rid of in one way or another. I read an article by Crystal Hawkins called "Christmas is too commercialized" and she makes an extremely good suggestion; "If you absolutely insist on receiving gifts for Christmas, the perfect solution would be, instead of buying presents for other people, only buy them for yourself. Wrap them if you wish, though it is not absolutely necessary. This way everyone gets what they want and no one will have to guess anymore. Guessing takes the fun out of Christmas and adds pressure. If you stop feeding into the commercialization of this one day each year, you will rollick in a much more enjoyable December." I know a lot of people would disagree and say that Christmas is all about giving but I think it's definitely became more about getting what you want. Jesus didn't ask what he wanted when he got his gifts but now it's all about kids telling there parents, grandparents and aunties what they want and then all these people trying there hardest to get these things for them. Last year everyone wanted a Wii so parents would do anything to get on for there kids. Since Christmas is about getting what you want then you should go out there and get it yourself then your not going to have any problems. It could just be seen as the time of year when you treat yourself and then on Christmas day you can tell everyone what you got for yourself and why you deserve it and why it's so great. this way you will be enjoying your new things and therefore be in a happy mood whilst surrounded by family instead of sitting there disappointed and thinking about how skint you are.Crystal Hawkins sums Christmas up pretty well in her article saying; Christmas is a time for dysfunctional families to unite, exchange meaningless gifts and enjoy a delicious dinner around a table that is scarred from years of assorted holiday celebrations that force families to congregate. However sad and depressing this may be it is quite true in most families. My granny organizes Christmas lunch and phones all the family to say when they should be there and we all turn up on Christmas day and see each other and talk to each other for the first time in ages. It would be nicer if there were phone calls between all family members to arrange things and talk to each other instead of leaving it down to dear old granny.
Just like everything in life there needs to be a lot of changes made. We keep on living our lives and doing the necessary things each year and everything keeps on getting more and more commercialized, where as what we need to do is stop and think about things and think about how we can change things for the better. We do this for other things in are life such as how we're doing at university or in our jobs but we don't actually think about how we're doing at celebrating Christmas, are we doing it right? If we stopped and re-planned and didn't care about what "we should be doing at Christmas" and thought about how it could suit each of our families then I think everyone would enjoy it more instead of dreading spending hundreds of pounds and making awkward chat with family members.
I understand where you are coming from Kirsty and I too believe that Christmas has become too commercialised. But for me, Christmas is not a time where you can get whatever you want, it is about family.
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly, my brother and I have always received what we have asked for from our parents who work extremely hard all year round to provide for us. But as we are getting older we never really ask for much (this year I asked for an electric toothbrush!!) but it doesn't stop my mum and dad going out and buying things they think we will like and we are never disappointed, which is mainly down to the surprise of the whole thing!
My family are very close knit and almost all of us live on the same street but Christmas still holds a special cord with us. Although we see each other on a weekly basis, it is just nice to have a whole day dedicated to our gang! :)