Holiday reflections, part 1:

Christmas starts way too early

Photo by Michael Wyatt on Unsplash

[Dear readers: This week’s post is the first in an occasional series before major holidays. Each post explores a holiday’s meaning.]

In a recent call with my daughter, we shared our annual irritation about the rush to what should be the upcoming holiday season. I say “should be” because retailers now begin the season of buying earlier than ever. A friend told me she saw Halloween and Christmas items side by side at a Costco in early autumn.

Global real estate consulting firm Avison Young says:

For decades, holiday [retail] success hinged on the narrow window between Black Friday and Christmas. That era is over. By 2025, the holiday cycle has stretched into a six-month cycle, beginning with summer deals like Amazon Prime Day in July and extending through mid-January promotions.

What happened to the days when Thanksgiving followed by Black Friday started the Christmas holiday season?

Here is what happened: Christmas capitalism -- the commercialization of the holiday that ties its significance to consumerism and gift-giving rather than its religious origins.

But here is the rub for me, and maybe for you: I love Christmas. I love finding presents for my friends and relatives. I buy several gifts before Thanksgiving -- truthfully, even before retailers begin chiming the Christmas buying bells.

It’s a consumer conundrum — one that seeps into my buying decisions throughout the year. How do I buy what I want and need for myself and others without sacrificing my values? I care about how goods are made and by whom. Are the workers that produce what’s in my shopping cart getting a fair or even a living wage? What companies are standing up to the federal government’s pressure to eliminate DEI?

On the personal side, I wonder if my loved ones need or want what I am giving them. Most have plenty, which makes it harder to find something unique. Can I afford to spend the extra money on items they may or may not use? And then there is the waste issue: An analysis by the Center for Biological Diversity shows that Americans generate 5.8 million more tons of waste in December than in other months, equivalent to the weight of 28,713 Boeing 747 jets.

With all these thorny issues plaguing my holiday buying, why do I keep doing it?

The simple answer: because I love the people I give to. My consumer angst is real, but it doesn’t stand a chance jousting with my desire to express how I feel by giving a personal, meaningful gift to the receiver.

I’m no expert on how best to maneuver these messy problems, but here are some strategies I’ve tried to incorporate in recent years:

• Downgrade the buying and upgrade the DIY. Instead of spending a wad on gifts, I am trying to create some myself. This year I planted large (inexpensive) pots of late fall iris from a nearby grower along with paperwhites, which reliably bloom by late December.

• Make it personal. When I find something any time of year that syncs with someone’s interests or personality (and isn’t too expensive), I snag it. Today I found an ornament in the form of a sewing machine creating a quilt, to be personalized with my quilt fanatic friend’s first name.

• Buy as responsibly as possible. For example, I gifted a calendar from a nonprofit that

  my loved one and I support. In honor of my animal-loving nieces, I am donating this year to Heifer International; the organization helps relieve global poverty by providing animals and entrepreneur mentorship to small farm communities.

• Buy local. I am lucky to live in a small village with a main street almost exclusively occupied by independent merchants. What a joy to purchase a kid’s present from “Thinker Toys” or a vibrant, fair-traded scarf from “Indigo Traders.”

I would like to say that I religiously follow these guidelines, but that lie would have gotten my mouth washed out with soap as a kid. Being a consumer in our time of late consumer capitalism is a tricky venture, a slippery slope of trying to balance buying with responsibility. I don’t have any easy answers. Like many things in life today, there is no stark right or wrong. We do our best and try to keep learning and growing.

Despite rampant capitalism, I still love Christmas and I always will. Yes, it’s the lights and the fantasy and the gifts – but beyond all measure, it’s the love. After all, that’s what the season is about, right?