Skipping the Commercial Christmas: A Bold Move
Every year, around November, the world becomes abuzz with a wave of insincere thoughtfulness. Suddenly, people who couldn’t care less about what you want the rest of the year now want to know your deepest desires. Everyone wants to be your friend and give you a present. You might end up with ugly sweaters or a bunch of other unnecessary and useless things that you never needed, wanted, or even knew existed. The problem is that since everyone wants to give YOU something, you suddenly feel obligated to give something back.
Bottom line, it’s frustrating—not Christmas itself, but the mentality that surrounds it. It’s easy to understand why Tim Allen’s character in Christmas with the Kranks decided to opt out of Christmas altogether and take a cruise instead. In the movie, his character is met with all sorts of glares and negative reactions from friends and co-workers, who couldn’t believe that anyone would ever just boycott Christmas. The ending didn’t turn out well for Tim Allen’s character, but it makes you wonder: can you really say to people, “Don’t buy me a Christmas present because I’m not buying you one,” without being ostracized from humanity?
The Christmas Resistance Movement
Apparently, a lot of people feel that skipping the fake Christmas celebration isn’t such a bad idea. Sure, the economy wouldn’t see a huge surge in spending, and there would probably be an excess of turkeys left on grocery store shelves after the holidays. But is it really such a bad thing? For many, the commercialized Christmas, complete with Santa Claus and stockings hung around the mantelpiece, is really for kids. So why do so many adults still participate?
Interestingly, there is a movement called The Christmas Resistance. This group, complete with a website, states:
“Christmas wish lists and gift exchanges degrade the concept of giving. You know Christmas marketing is a scam, benefiting manufacturers, stores, and huge corporations, while driving you into debt. You know this annual consumer frenzy wreaks havoc on the environment, filling landfills with useless packaging and discarded gifts. Yet, every year, you cave in and go shopping!”
The group claims that the constant “bleating” from shoppers who call someone a scrooge for not participating in the holiday extravagance is nothing more than a marketing attempt to tap into your guilt and make you spend money. The Christmas Resistance not only encourages people to boycott the commercialized Christmas, but also offers a “scapegoat” to help people deal with judgment from the outside world if they don’t want to participate in the glorified gift-giving.
Rethinking the Spirit of Christmas
One of the primary reasons this group started was not to be scroogy or save money in a tight economy, but to point out that the peace and joy chorus sung during Christmas should be something we participate in year-round. Part of what makes Christmas feel fake is that people who wouldn’t normally look you in the eye will suddenly hug you during the holidays. It begs the question: why don’t they treat you (or you them) with that same feeling of love and respect during all other seasons of the year? The Christmas Resistance challenges people to “maintain the integrity of giving by giving spontaneously and from our hearts, rather than during a specified season!”
Funny enough, the Christmas Resistance folks aren’t alone in their anti-jolly holiday stance. There are several hundred groups around the world that act as support networks for those who want to take a 12-step program to escape the commercial Christmas frenzy.
Is It Really That Bad to Skip Christmas?
The truth is, if you don’t want to participate in Christmas, you don’t have to. Simply tell people ahead of time to avoid the awkward situation of receiving a gift when you have nothing to give in return. If people give you a gift anyway, the burden of guilt is on them. And should they feel angry with you for not reciprocating, it only reveals that they’re participating in the holiday frenzy for all the wrong reasons! People who are genuinely celebrating the spirit of the holiday will give gifts expecting nothing in return (though, let’s be honest, few people truly feel this way).
Yes, it would be a little difficult and uncomfortable at first to be the first real-life scrooge your family and friends have ever seen. But so what? If you feel resentful about the holidays and want to use the money you would spend on gifts for others to do something nice for yourself, you shouldn’t feel bad about it. It’s your money. In many ways, it’s better to be true to yourself, honest about your feelings, and put yourself first for a while than to participate in token gift-giving that leaves you with little more than an empty wallet.
For the record, selfishness has nothing to do with not buying gifts for others, and selflessness for the sake of others is not the path to true well-being.
