Christmas Shopping

Oh, kind visiters, do not move swiftly on to the next recently published blog. This is no rant on the consumerism of Christmas. Quite frankly, it doesn't bother me.

No, instead, this is much less interesting.

I finished my Christmas shopping last night. Well, incidently. Incidently is probably not the word I really mean to use but I'm using it. I still have a few friends that I should probably buy gifts for. But Kim said she wants something I've made, so score! that'll be easy, and Ingrid- well, Ingrid doesn't like anything we get her (*wink) so I still have to think hard on that. But as far as family and boyfriend and best friend go, I am fini!

A lot of people in my circle of being have this huge anti-Christmas shopping attitude. I suppose I can understand, the whole missing the meaning of Christmas thing- but in having an anti-Christmas shopping attitude, we miss another meaning of Christmas. Christmas is ultimately about giving. It is celebrated because God gave his Son to us on earth so we might have eternal life. That's the best present anyone could ever dream of. So we have this tradition of giving gifts to others.

Now the truth of the matter is, it doesn't matter what is given. It's the thought that counts. There is a huge problem of the giving side of things being replaced with the getting. "It's the thought that counts" doesn't apply anymore. However, this shouldn't mean that giving presents at Christmas is a bad thing.

I love to give things. I love to spend my hard-earned money to get something for someone else. I like to buy someone's meal if I have the money to do it. I like to see something in a store that someone I know would like and pick it up for them. So Christmas is a lot of fun for me. I love finding that perfect gift. I love coming home with tons of shopping bags and look through everything and know that very little of it is for me. Then I love to spend the afternoon wrapping everything. I love watching someone open the gift I got them and see them get super excited if I did good.

Many people in my circle think that the best gift is something that you made. One year, a friend of mine bought nothing and made everything- a song for his mom, a mix tape for his brother, etc. I think that's great. But let's not judge everyone for not making their gifts because frankly, not everyone is creative like that. And in my case, not everyone's family would like that. My family is great, but truthfully, if I painted a picture for my mom, she'd like it and then put it in the closet. Or if I wrote a poem, they wouldn't get it. They just aren't artistically appreciative people. It's no fault of theirs. It's just how they are. My mom would prefer a DVD over a painting any day. For me to give her something I made would be me trying to make her into something she simply isn't, which is precisely what I hate for people to do to me.

So I guess this did turn into a rant. A rant for the other team. Sorry if I misled you. I misled myself.