Christmas is one of the most popular and commercialized holidays, period. In the United States, it seems that preparations by companies and businesses begin as early as late summer regarding advertising campaigns and event coordination. Shops start setting out decorations and wrapping paper in November, sometimes even before Halloween is over. This over-materialization consumes everything and everyone, and what makes Christmas so wonderful and often so important gets lost among gift tags and discounts.
In 2018, holiday retail sales exceeded $1 trillion, up about $160 billion from 2014, with an average of each American household spending $1,536 during the holiday period. Almost 15 percent of Americans had to sell possessions to buy holiday “necessities,” and 22 percent believed their spending during the season would leave them in debt. How did we get here? How did the most important part of Christmas become purchasing, receiving and dishing out exorbitant amounts of money?
Frankly, the best parts of Christmas get neglected amongst all the consumerism. What happened to complete, selfless generosity? Concern for the rest of humanity? Peace and goodwill toward all?
The absolute best part of Christmas is that overwhelming desire—if not felt by all, is felt by many—to suddenly be a better person. It’s almost a preemptive New Year’s. Maybe it’s the time we spend thinking about those we love and what would make them happiest or what would be the most useful in their lives. We focus on what we adore most about our loved ones, and the emphasis we place on others draws it from ourselves. We pass the year engrossed in our busy, stressful lives, but this brief moment at the commencement of winter, though steeped in profit, is one of the few all-encompassing times we devote strictly to friends and family.
Suddenly, the mindset switch doesn’t just apply to those we love, but the strangers on the streets in the snow and wind. There is a general excitement in the air, too, and perhaps that contributes. Almost everyone is so overjoyed at the prospect of seeing family and spending quality time with them. It feels good to give for once, when so often we take and take and sometimes don’t even say thank you.
In movies, the trope for awful main characters is that they become good when they begin doing good. Groundhog Day, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and A Christmas Carol are just a few examples. There is an instant gratification from thinking about how excited our family and friends will be when they open their gift or see what we’ve done for them, and gratification in general from helping other people and acting charitably, even when we know there won’t be any reward or golden star.
It’s not about buying and getting presents in return. Sometimes, we don’t know how to express our love for those we care about and our fragile, human hearts want so badly to give our loved ones exactly what will make them happy. The easiest and most obvious way is to spend copious, impractical amounts of money on them, getting as close to that “priceless” label that we put on friends and family as we can. We want, once a year, to say thank you, and to give as much as we have received. That is what makes Christmas so wonderful. We just want lasting joy for everyone we know, and clearly will do whatever it takes to achieve that. We can’t forget the real significance of Christmas: it’s not about giving the biggest or best gift, it’s just about giving.
Olivia Schmidt is a biology and English double major sophomore who really just wants socks for Christmas.