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Thanks for your thoughts. My implications within the article are from my personal perspectives wishing to touch/understand/benefit a large, world society. Here I am, living comfortably in this world, surrounded by family and friends. And I’m grateful. But this holiday, as with other recent experiences of Christmases, I was torn between the consumption of our society while staying closely linked and aware of other cultures, other societies, and other people whom I love and care for who are less fortunate.

From current events within cultures unrelated to the celebration of Christmas like Benazir Bhutto’s death, the ongoing situation in Darfur, friends from Tibet struggling to find their freedom as exiles, and the whole panoply of worldly issues involving suffering and pain- and then me, my small little life. Here I am often feeling isolated from reality, out of touch as a single drop of water within the mass fluidity of life and living. I could choose ignore this issue I have within my Self and spend my own resources towards my own unique life. Or I could step out from my personalized comfort and take a look at the whole picture, both in every day life, as well as in the purpose of this holiday season; how I can benefit not only my own growth, but hopefully others – consciously and/or unconsciously.

This is my character, what I think about, and so to be head-first in the retail business during the holiday season, witnessing the voracious spending of my fellow citizens; here, these emotions arose regarding various issues causing me to struggle to remain aware of others’ lives and others’ experiences within our human family.

Therefore volunteering to give back to the community was fulfilling. As was the choice to limit my spending and create gifts with my own creativity and imagination. The spirits of the holidays were lived graciously in my own experience, and all I sought to do this season was to share this joy with others, both near and far, both personally connected to my little circle of life and those whom I will never know and only wish to know.

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I don’t agree that buying habits offer a glimpse of a person’s character. But the truth is – most people have too much stuff. And this habit is encouraged all year by retailers, especially so around Christmas.

We’re told that the only “acceptable” ways of sharing our thanks to friends and family is to buy them something. So even if you did have time to make something unique, say, with your imagination, the pressure is still that these homemade gifts are sub-par to their shiny, new counterparts.

A perfect example: this Christmas, my 2 year old nephew scored a mound of loot from his father’s side of the family. Then when he came and left my sister’s side (his mother), he was again showered with toys – I’m willing to bet 90% of which he’ll look at once and never use again.

I’m not condemning my family members who bought him a gift – of course, it’s a nice thing to do. But at the end of the day, there’s a lot of useless plastic that’s ending up in an ever growing landfill.

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“I am referring to a scale of giving; from honest care to its’ opposite, or shall we say mass consumption…”

Do you honestly believe that buying someone a gift is the opposite of honest care? That therefore someone who buys someone a gift in fact does NOT care?

“This holiday season I experienced both worlds, but fortunately, there was a choice, and on the family side of things we removed ourselves from ritualistic spending and nonsensical wasting of resources.”

Yes, you are fortunate to have a choice. Not everyone can simply remove themselves from that hideous world of retail service just because it’s harshing their Christmas mellow.

“…maddened shoppers who believe the higher the price, the more love received, the more gratitude awarded…”

I don’t even know what to say to this. People are not cartoons – we are not a whole world of Dudley Dursleys screaming about how last year we got 38 presents, and this year we only got 37.

People shop because they believe they are doing something nice for their loved ones. You can criticize the way they go about doing so all you like, of course, but when you suggest that they do not, in fact, care, and that they are somehow morally or spiritually lacking because of the way they choose to show their love, you lose my respect.

Your mother taught you to make your own gifts, and that’s lovely and thoughtful – I wish I had the skills and the time to do the same.

In between all her disgusting consumption, my mother taught me that it’s the people who believe that their way of living is the only right way of living, and that people who live their lives in other ways are inferior, who cause most of the problems in this world.

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