I call myself the Goddess of Christmas. I used to get all crazy this time of year, decorating, cooking, baking, shopping, gift wrapping. My house looked like a department store with lighted greenery draped around the fireplace, the banisters, the chandelier, the front door, everywhere I could reach, including the bathroom mirror. I had beautifully wrapped gifts stacked up, one on top of the other, stretching into the living room.
Then one year, I realized that I had fallen for the trap, the commercialized Christmas, the Hallmark version of the celebration of Love and Peace. How did I get so insane?
I'm quite certain it started in my childhood. In the fifties nobody realized the pollution we were generating by our decadent spending and over-the-top decorating. I do remember feeling bad that we were all cutting down trees to celebrate the birth of Jesus and I somehow knew that wasn't right.
Back then I compared the number of gifts I received to the number my friends got. Did it mean they were loved more if they got more? Did it mean their father was more successful than mine if they had a bigger tree, more lights, more stuff? What was it all about....?
Of course, I was told in Sunday school, that Christmas was a time to celebrate the message of Christ, the Prince of Peace. I knew it was supposed to be about sharing love and not about what you unwrapped but....hey, I was a kid. I had a big family, four sisters and a brother. In my house it was about stuff.
There are a couple of movies out, "What Would Jesus Buy?" The film focuses on the issues of the commercialization of Christmas, materialism, the over-consumption in American culture, globalization, and the business practices of large corporations, as well as their economic and cultural effects on American society, as seen through the prism of activist/performance artist Bill Talen, who goes by the alias of "Reverend Billy," and his troupe of activists, whose street theater performances take the form of a church choir called "The Church of Stop Shopping," that sings anti-shopping and anti-corporate songs. The film follows Billy and his choir as they take a cross-country trip in the month prior to Christmas 2005, and spread their message against what they perceive as the evils of patronizing the retail outlets of several different large corporate chains. The other is, "The Story of Stuff" It's about the where stuff comes from, how it is processed, how it is manufactured, sold and how polluting to our bodies, our planet and our consciousness it all is.
I want to bring back a simpler version of Christmas. One that doesn't consume tons of foil wrapping paper and packaging that ends up in landfills. I want to celebrate in a way that supports Mother Earth and shows love to all people. How do I do that? I'm going to start by not sending Christmas cards and I'm cancelling all catalogs. I refuse to shop in department stores and I won't be wrapping any gifts in polluting wrap.
There's a store near me, Harmony Works, where they sell organic, and recycled items made into art. Glass dishes made from tossed bottles, cards and paper printed on recycled newspapers, books, CDs and candles for inspiration and made locally. I am now a conscious consumer and no longer will I fall for the 'over-the-top' consumerism we call "The Holidays"
Join me, will you?
