A simpler holiday season

Recently I came across this article in the New York Times Style Section. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/fashion/30laidoff.html?ref=fashion

Titled, “The Holidays Downsized: No Job and Fewer Gifts,” the article discusses a form of downshifting similar to what Juliet Schor explores in The Overspent American. In her book, Schor interviewed several people who, due to changed circumstances such as a dramatically reduced income or being laid off, were forced to change their spending and lifestyle habits, eventually scaling back significantly. Eating out became less common for these people, as well as vacations to the Caribbean, impulsive shopping purchases, and throwing extravagant parties. Some of the people Schor interviewed “made do” by substituting their previous purchases with other, cheaper ones (i.e. limiting family vacations to the annual summer Cape Cod trip, instead of going to Paris for Christmas), whereas others simply did without.

In her book Schor makes the distinction between downshifting, which usually resulted from changes in outside factors, and voluntary simplicity, which is just what it sounds like – people deciding to make their lives “simpler” by consuming less, thinking more about their consumption habits, emphasizing happiness from spiritual and family values rather than material goods, etc. The people interviewed for the New York Times article are examples of downshifting, as they are deciding to cut back on their usual holiday practices in light of the economic recession. Susan McCabe, for example, used to treat her friends and family for Christmas, going “all out” with gifts like “high-end cameras for adults, Nintendo Wii for the children” and “proudly treat[ing] the immediate family to dinner at romantic white tablecloth restaurants in Manhattan.” However, when her company failed and she lost her job, she found that she was struggling to pay the rent on her apartment, let alone treat her family to the traditional Christmas Eve dinner and expensive presents.

Even those who were not affected as directly by the recession are cutting back on their spending and party habits “in solidarity,” “out of unaccustomed need and shame,” or “prudent apprehension.” Even for those who may not have been as hard-hit by the economic downturn are aware that spending extravagant amounts on holiday preparations this season might be seen as gauche, risky, and awkward for friends and relatives who were affected adversely.

I thought the tone of the article was very interesting, as the author clearly sympathized with the downshifters but was also straining to keep a relatively light-hearted spin on the events: “Many people have a narrative about their holiday rituals: the worship, the setting, the food, the gifts, the personae, the drama. But this year, the economy is rudely tearing apart those yellowed scripts.” This personification of the economy as a rude, Grinchlike interruption on the time-honored traditions of these poor (both figuratively and literally for some) families seemed to be an attempt at undercutting the otherwise popular image of the economic recession as an immediate crisis. The article instead focused on the little, individual things that we can all do to cut down on costs for the holiday season, as was made clear by the following: “But Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and New Year’s all honor light in a dark season. Perhaps that is why people around the country, in describing how they are adjusting celebrations this year, speak of finding the upbeat in the downbeat — at least until the last scrap of wrapping paper is tossed.”

It was clear that for some, cutting back on Christmas this year was only temporary as a case of short-term downshifting – or at least people like Carl Sartori hope so. Mr. Sartori, a marketing and advertising manager from Bloomfield, NJ, had always made a tradition of throwing “joyously over-the-top celebrations” and buying lots of presents for the holidays. However, after being laid off in October, Thanksgiving dinner at Mr. Sartori’s was much simpler, with a free turkey and ham from savings coupons. However, when asked by New York Times reporters how he felt about these changes to his holiday traditions, he made it clear that “This year is just a stumble” and that “Wretched excess will make a comeback…‘I’ll double up next year.’” If Mr. Sartori were hypothetically to invite Ms. Schor to one of his famous Christmas parties after bouncing back from his losses this year, I can only imagine the field day she’d have with him. “Merely the substitution of genuine family and holiday spirit with blatant materialism,” I can picture her sniffing as hordes of children descend on the wrapping paper with glee.

Schor would certainly approve, however, of others who are “recasting these pared-down celebrations as a return to the true meaning of the holiday,” and believe that “the changes they were making this year were not detours, but new roads.” Returning to one’s roots and emphasizing family traditions, as well as homemade gifts and home-cooked meals, have all become part of this new movement towards a simpler holiday season. Although it certainly can be mortifying for someone like the Sioux Falls, S.D. grandmother interviewed for the article to have to forgo giving Christmas gifts to the grandchildren, maintaining the old and relatively inexpensive traditions of family, food, and togetherness can be a source of comfort, inspiration, and security in the troubled economic times. And although many parents are afraid that gift deprivation this holiday season will send their children into fits of despair, it should be noted that having an over-the-top Christmas wasn’t always the norm and that, in the words of New York therapist Evan Imber-Black, children can be given “a sense of plentifulness in a different way than gifts under the tree” such as an increased emphasis on traditions or family gifts.

Honesty, simplicity, and gifts that have more meaning than monetary value attached to them – although the title of the article was “The Holidays Downsized,” renewed emphasis of these once-standard values doesn’t really seem like downsizing at all to me. Just as Schor notes in The Overspent American, being forced to downshift can lead, in the end, to greater appreciation of the things you do have, rather than a continual yearning for more material goods.