Local radio stations started playing Christmas music today. It inspired me to blog about how to simplify the holidays.
The Center for a New American Dream releases an annual brochure on celebrating the holidays with “more joy, less stuff.” You can download the brochure or visit the website for more helpful tips. I’m a fan of the edible decorations and I also plan to make a photo album of pictures for my grandmother – shh, don’t tell her!
About.com has a whole entry on a Holiday Survival Guide. It’s filed under the stress management section, which makes me wonder about the trade-offs between health and the holiday hoopla.
On Facebook, check out the Simplify the Holidays discussion from the Kokua Hawaii Foundation. Their website is pretty cool and I’m jazzed about their Facebook widget.
When it comes to gifts, I have three options I always choose from. I either shop local, shop handmade at Etsy, or go the really altruistic route and shop at Alternative Gifts International or Oxfam International. Instead of heading out to the mall, I like supporting my local shops, galleries, and any store that will sell a gift certificate or Capitol Cash. Etsy is a marketplace for all things handmade and just blows my mind at the amount of amazingly unique, well-crafted, individualized gifts I could give myself…er, I mean, friends and family!
AGI supports humanitarian and environmental causes with the donation(s) you make in the name of relatives, colleagues, family, etc. Oxfam America is a large relief organization and it’s Unwrapped program has a wide array of charitable gifts. I love these services because there’s nothing that says Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, or Happy Hanukkah like giving a solar water boiler or manure or a flock of ducks. It’s serious fun to give these gifts to loved ones and it makes a huge impact on the communities the gifts go to.
When it comes to Thanksgiving celebration, I usually try to fast if I don’t have plans with friends. This year I’ll likely be observing a day of fasting and reflection. The Boston Globe ran an article on how these actions might more closely reflect the original Thanksgiving celebrations. Fasting is not something to take lightly, so talk to your doctor before attempting this, and research articles on how to enter and break a fast.
For me, fasting and reflecting definitely simplify the holidays and make me more, well, thankful. And isn’t that the point of this week?
Photo credit: Horla Varlan
