A Traceable Christmas Reflection.

I had hoped to post this sooner but it’s been a busy few weeks. But we wanted to share a bit of our reflections from Our Heretic’s Guide To Christmas, where we decided to incorporate a level of traceability into the gifts we bought for our family and friends. And with the exception of one gift (a Chik-Fil-A gift card for a rather picky brother – but it’s still a local franchise) we were able to get every gift locally, make it ourselves, or buy it from someone who was an artist/creator.

While we definitely aren’t “corporate free” – our big Christmas present this year from family was a new camera – we really enjoyed being connected, albeit loosely, to the gifts that we purchased. We were certainly fortunate enough to have the Indie Craft Experience in our backyard, which saved us the hassle of having to dig deep to find gifts.

All in all, Anna and I believe that this was one of the more rewarding Christmas seasons for us. We put time and thought into each and every gift instead of just buying the first thing that we saw on the shelf that fit our budget. Each gift that we bought had a story behind it and we were able to share that with those that we gave the gifts to. We also kept money in the local economy for one more round (which I’ve mused on the power of here).

Honestly though, it stretched our budget. Part of the luxury of franchises and national chains is that they are able to offer lower prices because of their strength in numbers and because of the tendency of some to rely on less than ethical practices. When you buy locally, you pay more of a real cost because of it’s equitable distribution of labor and costs. So needless to say, our budget got a bit stretched. It seemed like we ended up paying double for almost everything. But Anna bailed us out with her creativity to think of innovative alternatives.

Those who know me will tell you that I’m a bit of a Scrooge when it comes to buying things for other people. I guess due to my penny-saving upbringing (i.e. stingy parents), less has always been more. Or at least that’s what I’ve told myself so that I can justify buying more stuff for me. But this was the first year that I didn’t mind spending money. Even when we were doubling the cost. Dare I say that I actually enjoyed it. Perhaps because I had a higher confidence that what we were buying was going to be something meaningful and perhaps just because I caught a small glimpse of what it feels like to carry a half-way generous spirit around with you. Either way . . . I enjoyed it. And it was worthwhile for us.

We got to support the local economy. We got to support other stay at home artists, creators, and moms who are attempting to live like we live. And we got the privilege of making a stand, a stand against the massive amounts of money funneled to the top on the backs of the global poor at the hands of easy gifts and a savior-like Santa Claus. A stand against Caesar and his American dream for my life.

It was twice as exhausting. Twice as expensive. Twice as comprehensive. But twice as rewarding.

Now for next year . . .

Listening: Close To Paradise by Patrick Watson