The Girl Who Sold Her Christmas Tree

Apparently, today is "Buy Nothing Day" -  an international day of protest against consumerism.  Today is also the first day I became aware that such international protest existed.  According to Wikipedia though, "The first Buy Nothing Day was organized in Canada in September 1992 'as a day for society to examine the issue of over-consumption'.  In 1997, it was moved to the Friday after American Thanksgiving, also called "Black Friday", which is one of the ten busiest shopping days in the United States. In 2000, advertisements by Adbusters promoting Buy Nothing Day were denied advertising time by almost all major television networks except for CNN. Soon, campaigns started appearing in the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Austria, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, the Netherlands, France, and Norway. Participation now includes more than 65 nations."  There's also a Buy Nothing Christmas movement that has some great ideas for making this holiday season memorable without spending any money. 

For the sake of this blog post, I'd like to be able to say that today is also the day I sold my Christmas tree, but I actually sold it 2 days ago as part of my process of downsizing.  It just so happens that as I stumbled into Radical Minimalism a couple months ago and started selling & donating most of my stuff, I now find myself pondering an international protest.  Not sure I'm ready to go that jump on that bandwagon, but since I've never been a "Black Friday" shopper and had already planned to spend very little on Christmas this year, this idea certainly appeals to me. 

As a Professional Organizer, my goal is not only to help people organizer there stuff, but more importantly, to help them identify what's really important to them and to make room for making memories with their family and friends or exploring hobbies or interests they've been putting off until "some day".   Usually this involves getting rid of a load or two of nonessential stuff so that you can actually hear what the essential has to say.  This is easier said than done especially with the pressure to fill our homes with more & more stuff.

I won't be playing The Grinch this year or boycotting holiday cheer.  I have a few special items that I will be putting out to brighten my home & hearth, but I do intend to keep exploring this simple path and reminding myself that it's the journey that counts, even though I'm really excited about starting a new life in Santa Fe in the spring.  I keep getting reminded to give myself and others the gift of being present in the moment & my hope is that whatever you choose to spend or not spend or whether you put up a Christmas tree or Menorah or nothing at all, that you seize the opportunity to spend time with friends & family this holiday season.