Consumerism at Christmas

giftWhen I was a kid growing up on a wheat and sheep farm in Australia, I didn't have 'stuff''. My parents were not well off financially (I'd say they were poor but that screams of melodrama) and so my two sisters and I rarely got gifts, new clothes or went on school excursions, and we did not have a single family holiday in the 17 years I lived at home. You can bet Dad always had money for beer and cigarettes, but there was rarely any money left over for his wife or kids. Okay, a bit of melodrama has crept in, but fuck it - I do still harbour some unresolved resentment (more shit to deal with during counselling sessions !).

Suffice it to say, Christmas was never a big production, at least with respect to presents. Poor Mum tried - she trotted out the same tired old fake tree for the first 17 years of my life, adorned it with faded baubles and stringy tinsel and took we kids to Christmas Eve Mass every freaking year. But, although we diligently hung out our Santa Sacks on the chimney, and expectations were high in young minds, the day was almost always a complete disappointment in terms of presents for the kids. Mind you, Mum did try and get some cash off my father before he drank it all away, and purchased at least one Christmas gift for each of her three daughters. But, it was never the Chrissy Doll (you remember the one, she had hair that you pulled from the top of her head !) when I was 7 or the cassette player I so desperately wanted when I was 12. But, there was love and there was always something small and thoughtful lurking in the sack.

As a child I was consumed with envy for the fortune of my best friend, whose parents were local business owners 'in town' for she and her siblings were completely over indulged with every thing their little hearts desired. I know I carried this resentment over being poor and envying my friend into adulthood, because I have spent a good deal of my adult working life spending money on 'things', some I needed, some I just plain wanted, and many, many more I neither needed or wanted. Although I am sure some Psych would probably over analyse the issue, for me it is as simple as now when I want stuff, I can - and do - damn well buy it.

Well, the result has been a houseful of stuff that has, at least in recent times, been given away, sold or otherwise trashed for I now yearn for a more simple existence where as long as I have a roof over my head, healthy food on my table and love in my home, that alone is enough to sustain me.

This philosophy has carried over into my Christmas Gift Giving plan for 2007 - and whether they want it or not, parents, siblings and friends will be given a goat, some tree seedlings, an organic vege garden, a toilet, school supplies or a fuel efficient stove. What the.....? Ok, there is a great organisation in Australia, TEAR - Transformation, Empowerment, Advocacy, Relief (one of many here and around the world I am sure) that offers these gifts in exchange for donations to their aid programs. So, you go to the website, select the appropriate gift eg. School supplies for a community in Bangladesh (or Afghanistan, India, Thailand, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda) for my ex-school teacher Mother in Law and for the sum of $AUD50, she receives a card thanking her for her sponsorship and that's the gifting all done ! In fact, most of my family members are aware they are getting these kinds of virtual-gifts this year and are delighted. And, in this season which is supposed to be all about giving - not getting - so they bloody well should be !