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Ashtyn Miller | Opinion | December
As the holidays fast approach, so does the busiest shopping season of the year. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and all the miscellaneous holiday shopping drive consumers to spend copious amounts of money. While some of these purchases may be justified, I have to wonder if overconsumption culture is driving people to spend money on things they really don’t need.
Since the beginning of October, my social media has been filled with an overwhelming amount of videos, urging people to buy things for the holidays. Usually, they fall under some iteration of:
“Run, don't walk to Old Navy! You NEED to buy these super cute holiday pajamas!”
“This is your sign to make your friend/daughter/girlfriend/whoever the heck else a Brr Basket! Run to Target NOW to buy these essential Brr basket items!”
“Omg guys, look at these super cute holiday plates at Hobby Lobby! Buy a completely new set of dinnerware to fit this year’s aesthetic!”
“Minimalist Christmas is OUT! Ralph Lauren Christmas is IN! Throw out your old decorations and buy these decorations from HomeGoods instead!”
What do these videos have in common? They all push the narrative that you need to buy new things every year to fit some arbitrary trend or aesthetic. And why? Why does Christmas need to be "aesthetic"? Can’t we furnish our homes with meaningful items instead of cheaply made decor?
When I walk into a store like Hobby Lobby, I almost feel sick. As far as the eye can see, there are Christmas decorations piled on top of more Christmas decorations. And the worst part? They’ve been out since the middle of the summer. Why are we so eager to begin the Christmas season? Let it have its own time and place like every other holiday.
I truly believe that the push to celebrate Christmas earlier and earlier each year stems from the fact that people are uncomfortable with the uncertainty of their lives. They want to feel happy, to forget about the worries that plague their lives. So they drag out their Christmas trees and string up their lights, desperately hoping that the “Joy of Christmas” will distract them from the turmoil of their lives.
And yet, I see so many videos saying, “Christmas doesn’t feel like it did when I was a kid. Where has all the magic gone?” I’ll let you in on a secret: the magic left when Christmas shopping replaced actual quality time. It left when you became more worried about fitting into aesthetics. It left when you started spending every weekend of October through December mindlessly drifting from one store to the next. It left when you got caught up in the “social media-fied” version of Christmas.
Hobby Lobby Christmas decor
Photo taken from Pinterest
To make Christmas special again, spend it like you would have spent it as a child. Ditch the Hobby Lobby decor and Old Navy pajama sets and go do something fun. Bake cookies, go ice skating, do something that will create a memory. You’ll probably forget about a random Target run in a week, and the things you buy will lose your interest after a few uses, but the memories made doing something special last a lifetime.
I’ll leave you with this quote from the famous Christmas movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas: “Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, he thought, means a little bit more.”
Ashtyn Miller, Reporter
Ashtyn Miller, Reporter
Ashtyn Miller is a reporter for The Courier. This is her first year on staff. She hopes to strengthen her writing skills and become more comfortable making her writing public.
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