Thursday, November 29, 2007
Holiday hopping
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Jeremy S. Miller
Miller, of Wytheville, works part time as a teacher and part time in retail.
We threw out the jack-o-lanterns, carved the turkey and now set out Santa and his elves. I wonder what happened to the luxury of "in between" times.
We now instead go holiday hopping as if there is no time to breathe between holiday events. We accompany our holiday hopping with holiday shopping as we frantically accumulate gifts for people we do not see or communicate with any other time of the year.
All this franticness is not just during the holidays but lasts year-round as we try to eliminate the "in between" time -- time to think, rest and enjoy serene solace after one event and before the next. Those times seem to exist less in today's world than in the past as our holiday decorations and shopping start sooner every year. Now I see holiday decorations on some houses the day after Halloween, and I see Christmas decorations and gifts for sale even before Halloween in the stores.
By rushing the advent of Christmas, we have less time every year to enjoy the holiday season. The holidays become a rush to beat the neighbors in Christmas decorations, so we can show our holiday spirit instead of practicing it.
But instead of merely showing a display of Christmas, we could practice showing our festive spirit by sending cards, visiting loved ones or even enjoying time alone to think about our gratitude for what we have in our lives.
After all, alone time benefits everyone. I do not often paraphrase celebrities, but I heard Whoopi Goldberg say that she travels by bus everywhere she goes. She travels in this manner because of her fear of flying. However, she also travels this way because she says that she enjoys the in between time -- the time to think and enjoy her own company.
I agree that nothing seems wrong in enjoying alone time. How often do we allow that luxury? Perhaps the fear of appearing narcissistic inhibits us from being alone; we think we appear selfish by wanting solitude. Sadly, if we do find ourselves alone, we turn the television on quickly to drown out our inner voice.
There is no more obvious season than the holidays to realize that we have cut away that in between time -- the time to think, sit, read a book or go for a walk. In a flash, our society now goes from Happy Halloween to Merry Christmas.
Of course, marketers and retailers love that we have forgotten our "in between" time. As we roll in our materialism, we practice less the virtue of thankfulness by spending loads of money.
Instead of showing genuine concern and interest in other people, we buy gifts. Perhaps, a genuine interest in people seems less in our society today because we've erased the in between times and no longer contemplate why we should show concern for others.
Imagine the reduction in stress each December, if we practiced a little "between time," slowing down as nature does each winter, instead of holiday hopping at the rate that retailers demand.
We might then feel grateful for (instead of stressed out by) Christmas, the company of those around us and even the company of people we hop around so frantically to avoid -- ourselves.
