December is a month filled with holidays and gift giving traditions. Whether you celebrate Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas, or none of the above, exchanging gifts with family, friends and even work associates during this month has today become a tradition that few feel they have the choice to partake in, lest you be deemed a holiday scrooge.
Gift giving during this month can be traced historically to literary references that have been ingrained in popular culture regardless of race or religion. First published in 1843, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol popularized the notion of holiday scrooges in this holiday classic about redemption and family. As Ebenezer Scrooge watches his past, present and future life from an outside perspective while being accompanied by three ghosts, he awakens to experience a change in heart and being. If you missed that one, remember the opening line “’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.” Written by Clement Clarke Moore in 1822, A Visit from St. Nicholas is one of the most famous Christmas poems which helped establish the magical gift-bearing Santa figure in American consciousness. Saint Nick has since become symbolic of generosity during the holiday season.
If you are one of the many who have forgotten WHY you give and have understandably gotten caught up in all the sales offers that flood your inbox or are blinded by all the glittery holiday displays that are impossible to avoid, remember that regardless of your background or beliefs, giving gifts during the month of December had noble beginnings across all religions and traditions. Exchanging gifts were meant to bring people closer together, a way to celebrate a shared heritage, family and culture. It is supposed to be a heart-warming act of kindness that brings joy to people during the darkest time of the year.
GIVE encourages you to take a step back from the commercial assault of retailers and the routine, thoughtless giving and consumption of goods during the holidays. It’s a shame that buying gifts and GIVING have become a chore, but it’s no wonder that it’s become so when we’re told we HAVE to do it every time we see competing ads or feel pressured by holiday sales campaigns. Be thankful for the people in your lives and show them appropriately, and you’ll realize that it doesn’t matter how much you spend or what you give. Giving a gift should truly be about the thought behind it. Whether you’re a gift giver or a gift recipient, remember that it’s not about the gift you get – be grateful for the person in your life who values you enough to put you on their holiday gift list!
And with that, we leave you with a video from another popular holiday classic. A Charlie Brown Christmas first aired in 1965 and has aired every year since. Starring the Peanuts gang, its primary character Charlie Brown becomes depressed at the over-commercialization of Christmas. Even though he is upset that his own dog Snoopy has gone commercial and gets caught up in a neighborhood lights and display contest, Charlie Brown becomes determined not to let commercialization ruin his Christmas.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS from GIVE!
