This Holiday Season, Give the Wonderful Gift of Nothing

November 20, 2023

There's actually something refreshingly wonderful about enjoying all the traditions without the obligation to buy or make gifts.

This holiday season, the most wonderful gift is the gift of ending the obligation to exchange gifts. Yes, I understand this is so appalling and monstrous that even Scrooge would hesitate to approve, but can we confess that overconsumption has limits, and we're overdue for a recalibration?

Gift-giving is a wonderful tradition, but perhaps it's time to give only ephemeral gifts of experiences and time spent together. Aren't the nation's self-storage units already stuffed with stuff? As for downshifting to homemade cookies and sweets, that's a step in the right direction to be sure--consumable, made and given with love--but with every other advert being a Big Pharma pitch for a med that "lowers your A1C," maybe sweets are the ideal gift now either.

The obligation to give gifts to loved ones who already have everything is--can we be honest?--odiously crazy-making. When someone steps up and takes the plunge and suggests we let go of exchanging gifts, the sigh of relief is palpable.

Sure, there are the kids, but is there ever a point when they have enough stuff already? Now that it's painfully obvious that digital addictions lower IQs and the ability to focus, perhaps giving kids more digital games and devices isn't much of a gift after all.

Here's an idea: give the kids the weird, wonderful exotic gift of a physical book, which activates parts of the mind that don't need sound prompts and scores to engage focus and learning.

Like so many aspects of life, gift giving has accelerated to yet another deranging mania, a frenzied tearing through the pile of gifts followed by a sugar-crash stupor.

There's actually something refreshingly wonderful about enjoying all the traditions without the obligation to buy or make gifts. It's like a great burden is lifted from the entire holiday experience, clearing space for some magical gratitude for what we have that isn't a consumerist frenzy of over-indulgence and over-consumption.

Maybe the real gift would be engaging the kids in making gifts for each other. Or exchanging little notes of what we're grateful for in the past year. Gift wrap them if you wish.

As for the dependence of "economic growth" on holiday credit-card splurges--even Santa is exasperated.

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