Tag Archives: Christmas

Minimalist Holiday, Wrapped Up

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I’ve been thinking about the Minimalists lately. The holiday season is lurking ahead, replete with the dangers of over consumption. It is easy to go overboard with superfluous purchases, falling prey to ingrained expectations and family rituals. This habit of overspending during the Christmas season is born in good intentions but lacks the restraint and thoughtfulness which the minimalist movement embraces.

If you are unfamiliar with the Minimalists, I encourage you to watch the compelling Netflix documentary about a trend towards simplicity and away from the excessive pursuit of non-essential material goods. (Or peek at the website here: The Minimalists ). I saw the film for the first time in January of this year, still high from the massive spending record I had set over the prior few months. The timing for the message was perfect, and in my state of unprecedented stress and debt, the story of Ryan Nicodemus and Joshua Fields Millburn resonated with me in a profound way.

I’ve watched the video multiple times throughout the year, and have been aggressive in pursuing the values. The entire house has undergone a transformation, with the exception of my husband’s possessions, which he has patiently asked me to stop donating without permission. My wardrobe is streamlined, our house decor borders on the austere, and my sister’s eBay sales have hit a spike. Whatever missing part of my life I was trying to fill with spending, I now attempt to fill with hobbies, such as writing, reading or gift wrapping. Which leads me back to the holiday predicament.

How do I embrace the values of minimalism and still pursue my passion for the creative outlet of gift wrapping? How do I tweak my approach to the gift exchange traditions which have been a part of my family’s story? The Minimalists offer suggestions in this podcast ( Gift Giving for the Minimalists ), including gifts of experiences, consumables and charitable donations. This last idea hits home for me, since there are so many cool non-profits in the area I would love to support, and I like the message of “hey, I know this cause is important to you, so for Christmas, I made a donation to them in your honor.”

Suddenly, a development opened the door to a solution for my dilemma. My friend Crystal has a new job with Augusta Animal Services, and told me about a donor who is willing to match any contribution made during the first two weeks of November. When I heard this good news, it seemed like an ideal way to try to get the “donation as gift” concept out there. I told her that for anyone who makes a donation to her organization on behalf of a loved one, I will offer to gift wrap a custom message so that their recipient is still able to experience opening a present. Free gift wrap and matching donations might just be the platform we need to do something positive for the furry friends in our area, and satisfy my personal challenge to give gifts with more meaning and less material consumerism.

If someone on your shopping list has a passion for animals, this might just be the unique and thoughtful gift you have been seeking. I will customize the look of the gift to the style you think they would enjoy, such as a natural, craft paper wrap or an upscale, high-gloss presentation. If you have a hard time with the complete lack of a physical object, I can include a pet-based holiday ornament, so there is some small keepsake memento of the gesture. (While not a strict minimalist approach, I could still get by with it by building a case for the ornament adding value to the overall gift-opening experience. 😉 )

Feel free to message me on the contact form on my wraps website ( Orange Cat Wraps  ) if you would like more information. I will likely stress a minimum donation around $50, because of the quality and time of the wrapping, and the urgent need for the spay/neuter program which will benefit. I am flexible, though, because I want us all to feel like it is not how much we give or spend, but how much thought there is behind the gesture. Hopefully the Minimalists will approve.

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P.S. If the animal donation is not a fit, but you like the idea of charity-as-gift and want the complimentary wrap, I will also wrap for donations to other non-profits in the area, including (but not limited to) such organizations as the Miller Theater, Golden Harvest Food Bank, SafeHomes, Fireside Ministries, Salvation Army and Child Enrichment. Let’s chat.

 

 

For the record, I did not cry in Target

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There is a brief moment when you know you are on the verge of crying but you decide not to surrender. You feel the emotion simmer to the surface, the moisture wells in the eyes, and the face begins to crinkle. It takes a conscious effort to send the tears back to their source, and shake off the tingly feeling that could easily betray your cool demeanor. You normally only have this kind of control for the “easy cry” moments, like when you see that commercial for Budweiser where the Clydesdale horse recognizes his trainer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuAAXCOUH6Q

In case you didn’t respond normally to this famous Super Bowl spot, I will tell you that the facial twinges should start occuring as soon as the parade is over. You don’t have to cry, but you know you want to.

It is this exact same twinge that hit me at 8:30am yesterday in Target while shopping for a child I don’t know, an 8-year old boy named Chris who was part of the Salvation Army’s “Angel Tree” program. Kids in need tell the Salvation Army what they would like for Christmas, and the information is put on a card so that people can “adopt” them for the holiday. If you take an angel card off of a tree on display at any participating company, you are essentially agreeing to take ownership of that child’s Christmas morning.

So in the case of Chris, I had ownership of his holiday happiness and the card informed me that his happiness hinged on my decision to sport out a train set . Target had a starter kit, but upon close inspection, I realized that it only included the track and depot. I had to invest more for the trains and other accoutrements essential for a fun Christmas morning (including 9 AAA batteries).

This was no problem for me, as I was prepared to spend whatever was necessary for Chris, although I knew nothing about him outside of his affinity for trains. After these decisions were made, I picked up an outfit, careful to find something that looked cool, although I was unsure of his style. Somewhere in the process of selecting these presents in the early-morning quiet of my favorite Target (aka “the Mothership”), I got so wrapped up in what his story might be, that I started to become sad. Why is Chris in need, and have I done enough to help make this Christmas special? Will he like what I have selected? Will he be elated that there is so much, or sad that there is not more? I picked up a couple of smaller items, including a board game he could play with his family, in the hopes that there is one who would be willing to participate.

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Train set for Chris

And then the facial twinges started and the tears leaked into my eyes. I quickly pushed them back, so that nobody would know that Chris had snuck into my heart, just a bit, just like the Clydesdale horse. This has happened before during Angel Tree shopping, which is a different charitable experience from donating to “Toys for Tots” or similar toy drives, because you have basic details regarding the child for whom you are shopping. And because I’ve coordinated enough of my company’s Angel Tree programs, I also know how to tell if Chris has a sibling. I often try to make sure siblings have the same number of gifts, the way my mom did for me and my sisters when we were little and easily jealous of one another.

Even a little bit of information is just dangerous enough to make you feel involved. This emotional connection, however brief and slight, is not necessarily good or bad, but certainly is an integral part of the holiday experience for many donors. This is certainly true for me. I would no more let the month of December come and go without buying toys for kids like Chris, than I would let it come and go without buying a gift for my mom. I just have to be sure to be on the alert for the signs that I am about to start crying in Target. For the record, on this occasion, I was able to hold it together. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

“Be a Rick” Results

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After my year of incredible blessings, I promised I would take the spirit of holiday giving to new heights.   (See blog “Be a Rick” http://volunteeraugusta.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/be-a-rick  )  So now is the moment of truth; it is time to admit if my actions covered the big check my words wrote. The final report for Project Holiday 2011 is simply this: Mission Accomplished. But I gotta tell you, I am utterly exhausted.

My mantra for the season echoed the movie “Yes Man”. I would say yes to each opportunity that was presented, and seek out different ways to help. For example, every retail store cashier asking for a charity donation got my money. One shocked cashier at Publix, after selling me a $5 bag of food for the needy, yelled at his co-worker across the store, “I finally sold one!” In truth, his sales pitch had been so flat and quiet, that I barely understood what he was asking. I believe it went like this (imagine an almost inaudible voice): “Would you like to buy a something-something for something-something?”  I learned that he had tried all day with no success, and his discouragement had contributed to a selling style I now affectionately refer to as, “half-hearted mumbling”. My positive reply to his request is what we in the car business refer to as a “lay-down”, meaning that the sale was going to happen no matter what. You have to really make a major faux-pas to alienate a lay-down buyer, nothing short of cursing or spitting will cause them to say no.

I was a lay-down for volunteering also. Every request for donating my time was answered in the affirmative. Ring the bell for Salvation Army? Sure! Help sort donated toys for needy families? Absolutely! Deliver food to elderly shut-ins? You bet. I also sought out the chance to work at the soup kitchen a couple of times. At the mention of any charity needing help recruiting volunteers, I would start sending email blasts and making facebook posts. My poor friends were probably thinking, “Enough already! We get that you like to volunteer, but do you have to always drag us into your reindeer games?”

My co-workers were recruited into the reindeer games, as well. They joined me in the toy-sorting and bell-ringing volunteer gigs, and were all amazingly generous and helpful. When asked to sponsor needy kids, and they stepped up to the plate. Normally my dealership is good for 3-4 kids, tops. This year we covered 18. There was some last-minute scrambling to get it pulled together, but we did it. One of them even told me why our efforts meant so much to him: 35 years ago, he was on the receiving end. He knew what it was like to have a shoe box of donated toys. When you realize that each toy, each volunteer hour, each donated dollar, makes a difference to a real child on Christmas day, it hits home. Sometimes when I am shopping for an adopted kid and think that I have enough, I visualize that child on Christmas morning. Perhaps just one more small gift will be the item that really makes them happy. Maybe they will be excited to receive some play-dough, or some markers, or a slinky, the way I always was when I was that age.

Finally, I convinced my company to take the typical donation drive to the next level. This was not hard to do, as Jim Hudson Lexus is passionate about community service. But I’m not sure even they imagined what I had in mind. While we had frequently held a toy drive, or food drive, or a collection of travel-size toiletries, we had never coordinated a full-on effort to collect everything at once. That is what we did with our “15 Gifts of Christmas” campaign. We found 15 charities who needed various items, and agreed to help recruit those donations. We promoted the need for the community to donate everything from socks for Rape Crisis, to diapers for SafeHomes, to tshirts for Hale House and crayons for the Art Factory. All totaled, 15 non-profits asking for a combination of 30 different items. We set up a huge Santa Sleigh display right at the front door, and pushed for donations for a solid month. Every time a customer or friend (or my mom!) came in with more items, we were thrilled. These were all items these organizations needed, and by getting them donated, it was one less thing they had to buy.

In the end, I am very pleased with the 2011 Christmas charity campaign. Of course, the downside is that I have not done one thing for my own holiday, so there is some catching-up to be done with my personal shopping and decorating. But overall, despite the exhaustion and the personal delays, I am proud to report that I was able to reach my goal of aggressive giving-back activities. Who knows, when my shopping is done, I may even take a cue from the generous K-Mart shoppers who are anonymously paying off stranger’s Christmas layaways. Seems like lots of people were blessed in 2011 and wanted to give back, too. It is, after all, what Christmas is all about.