The holiday season is an odd place to talk about downsizing because of the emphasis on giving and receiving gifts. I remember the hours spent choosing the right gifts for family members. Typically, I would start searching in the summer at the craft fairs. And it didn’t stop at one gift per person either.
But somewhere along the way, particularly after the older generation had passed away and my niece was grown, I decided that all this frenzied shopping was not the best use of time and resources. For one thing, we didn’t need anything we couldn’t buy ourselves. And for another, we were tring to get rid of possessions, not accumulate more.
My husband and I exchange one gift each for birthdays and Christmas. Sometimes the gifts are expendables, such as a theater ticket, a travel experience, and always for me from him, flowers. Everyone else (except for my niece) is pretty much off the list except for the occasional “big” birthday or the very rare wedding that comes along.
The focus of my own giving is donations of things I no longer want to people I don’t know via organizations such as Big Brothers, Big Sisters and Goodwill. I’m not a big fan of “regifting.” It’s a minefield unless you keep careful records of gives you what. One year I remember receiving from a friend some jams that were identical to the ones I had given her the year before. At first, I thought it was a marvelous coincidence that we had bought the same things for each other until I realized she was giving me back the presents I’d bought her. Not a good feeling to have your gift rejected.
Homemade gifts are another option. Some people make cookies or handknit scarves. As an artist, I put my love into making special cards for friends and family. Even that, I have toned down. For several decades, I would take my best photo of the year, get it printed up, mount them on special card stock, address the envelopes, and send them out to an ever-growing list. They were good photos, and people told me they would keep them or even display them on their mantlepieces long after the holiday spirit had retreated.
But now, even the card project is an expense I can no longer afford. And I imagine that most people just throw them away after decorations are packed up. As for the cards I receive, after displaying them for a couple of weeks, I file them away for awhile, and then cut off the fronts, which I give to a senior center for residents to reuse.
The holidays are much less stressful and more fun when shopping is restricted to buying food and drink. I realize that those with young children in their lives still have reasons to give gifts and take pleasure in that activity. But for the rest of us, isn’t it sufficient joy just to celebrate together?