Christmas Doesn’t Have to Suck

Celebrate by not “celebrating.”

Does anyone past the age of 12 actually enjoy Christmas? The food is unquestionably a plus. But food is always good. Christmas on the other hand, seems to devolve as we age into a mammoth spending spree coupled with tedious obligations and hidden resentments.  However, there are other possibilities and modes of “celebration” for this increasingly maligned and misunderstood holiday.

“Buy Nothing Christmas” was created by the Canadian Mennonites in partnership with Adbusters magazine - who also heavily promote Buy Nothing Day - as an alternative convention open to anyone, regardless of their religious affiliation, who have grown weary of the conventional Christmas expectations.

“I will not be buying anything this Christmas. I don’t have enough money and it’s stupid,” explains Buy Nothing Christmas participant, 23 year old Samantha Curtis.

Buy Nothing Christmas may indeed dampen the spirit of the so-called marketing scam referred to by corporations as “holiday cheer.” However, it’s not meant to induce a Scrooge-esque curmudgeonly response to the holidays. The creators advocate homemade gifts and good deeds done in place of a massive over exertion of credit and a frenzy of stress. Their self-professed aim is to “slow the pace of Christmas and the over-consumption of middle-class North Americans.” And it kind of kicks ass not to have to buy shit for people.