Christmas Lite All Year Long

Written by Karen Jessee

The double doors opened and I was enveloped in the sights and fragrances of fall: the lush reds and golds, the spicy cinnamons and apple. The displays were gorgeous, the candles aromatic and inviting.  I fought the urge, but the seduction was too great, too overwhelming, and I found myself doing the unthinkable:  buying more holiday decor.

I don’t need more holiday decor.  I have some colorful, whimsical bits of silly ready for the fall season.  They’re packed, their labeled -  and they’re in the basement.  But these were right in front of me, lots of them, glistening with some fake topping that now makes pumpkins look all sugary on top.  The vivid colors and the aromatherapy made them irresistible, and  I succumbed like a cheap date.  It was too easy.  I didn’t have to haul up the bin from the basement; all I had to do was get them out of the bag, rip off the price tag, and arrange them.  I had given in to temptation, and suddenly the room felt “new” and “hip” and ”young” and “fresh”; those four mandatory adjectives of the millennium that must now accompany every new thing on the market, be it fashion, furniture, hair styles or...pumpkins.

The problem:  the holiday bin in the basement is already full.  I don’t want another bin of fall décor.  I don’t want another bin of any kind of décor. I have enough. And had I taken a moment to go into the basement and haul out my bits of color and whimsy, the house would have still felt “new” and “young” and “hip” and “fresh” because it simply would have been different!  What other time of the year do we haul out orange and blend it with muted yellows and reds?

But it did explain why so many of my clients have so little space for the things they need to store. They are competing with far too many color-coded bins of holiday decorations;  there is so much of it for sale, so colorful, so festive, so well displayed,  so easy to buy, and so instantly gratifying.  Heaven help us when it all goes on sale.

Here’s the bottom line: there is always going to be a more interesting and more beautiful  pumpkin, blinking heart, ceramic bunny, and singing Santa every year as sure as there is going to be a new style in fashion, jewelry, toys, exercise equipment, and everything else we manufacture...or bring in from a foreign country. And, there is always going to be a sale on these things after the season.  

When do we say “enough already!”  When do we take stock of what we have before we walk out the door?  When do we stop buying bins so we can store more things? When do we make the conscious decision simply not to buy more of the same stuff?  Do we need instant gratification so badly?  Must the word “sale” obligate us to buy?  How many times have we come home and realized that what we just bought wasn’t really that important or that we really didn’t even have the room for it?  Remember that “must have” toy  the kids wanted that made you stand in line for hours or search the internet for weeks?  Is it still in the box?  As thrilling as yesterday’s news?

All right; it was just a few, cheap, sugary-topped pumpkins.  But the glitz and sparkle are out seriously now and  angels are about to sing. Retail has geared up and the pine-scented candles are lit. The seduction has begun. You have to have a plan.  Maybe a list and cash only.  It’s a holiday recipe for  limited temptation, no debt, no regret, simplicity and freedom while keeping the spirit of the season.  And you just can’t buy that.