Tonight is Christmas Eve and everyone is asking me if I finished my Christmas shopping and whether I bought gifts and what not.
I did buy a couple of gifts for kids (through a giving program) and I also donated some of my time to charity during this time of the year to help prepare breakfast for the homeless. So I gladly done my share of giving.
However, this is the first year where I do not buy any gifts for adults: my siblings, relatives and friends. When I tell this to others they feel shocked, as if I committed a grave sin!
So let me explain my philosophy, and I repeat it is pertains to adults and not kids. Kids do not have their own money and any toy or gift will bring joy to their hearts.
We live in an age of consumerism and impulsive buying. Often times, we are programmed by TV and radio ads, billboards, shops and other commercial avenues to spend our money and buy gifts during that time of year. The message they try to pass is:
Show your love and care by buying a gift
As if love can be truly quantified by gifts! I really don’t like this, especially when those ads are targeting grownups and adults!
It is the same story with Valentine’s day where lovers are brainwashed and shamed into spending their money on “romantic” gifts just to prove their love.
Me, as an adult, I don’t want gifts from anyone on this “special” Christmas day. If you want to gift me, then make it on a random day and if possible bring me something I need. If you must, a gift card is always welcome so I choose what I really need and buy it when I need it.
It really breaks my heart when I go to malls or walk in shopping streets and see people running around from shop to shop, all worried and thinking if they bought “the right” gift for other adults.
Honestly, I am getting rid of all the non-essential belongings and making my life free of clutter and things.
Merry Christmas, may you all be happy!
You may also like:
- No Avocado for you! Come back one year!
- Homeless Jesus
- Terence McKenna – Don’t consume culture, create culture – Modern Society
- Henry David Thoreau – The importance of simplicity, authenticity and being original