Why this website/book?
The easy answer would be that this "idea manual"
exists to add to the options of end-of-the-year holiday-makers.
But that wouldn’t explain why the book, and then the website,
was created - or bear on those material issues of
"post-innocence holiday fatigue".
Nor is it more than a partial answer to feature the economic
or ecological factors in the concept of frugality - though they
are important in their way, and I think that many people are
disturbed by the extravagance of the season. There are a whole
bunch of what you might call frugal living tips herein... but
the minimalistic kind of frugal living that the phrase commonly
implies is more of a natural response to my environment than a
passion of mine. (If you'll refer to the previous page's
definitions, you'll see what kind of frugality I am
passionate about.)
The real reason this guide was created has to do with
ambivalence about the winter holidays - and a desire to break
through it. ...And with the enjoyment that comes from
"fittingness"... From giving/celebrating in an apt
way, with a felicitous result - which lifts mere
"holiday-making" (which can be rather ho-hum -
unmeaningful) into the realm of meaning: that which lasts.
The end-of-the-year holiday season is a time when a vortex of
celebration is created... whether we’re entirely in favor of
it or not! Gift-giving is blatantly encouraged by the (sometimes
obnoxiously) pervasive retail and advertising industries.
Gift-giving, card-sending, partying, and decorating are almost mandated
by a variety of traditions - in the stores, at work, in our
children’s schools, at home, from our memories... Though not
always in our hearts.
The child-like expectancy, excitement, and appreciation of
the highlights of this time dies out for many (and perhaps never
was, for some). When it ebbs, it may not be replaced by a more
considered approach to the season that gives sustenance to the
spirit on any sort of parallel. ...We might wake up and find
ourselves unnervingly adult, and with no child in sight
to "do it for" - and wonder... Why? - why go on? Is
the fuss really worth it?
For some, "why all of this?" may take on a far more
questing - even a savage - cast. Plenty of people are ambivalent
about the importance of this end-of-the-year holiday stuff. And
some, lonely or not, find it a dreadful trial.
So another question takes shape... how?
How to find - make - meaning in the season, and how to
convey it to others, no matter which is their own degree of
comfort with the customary trappings of it.
How to bring people together, give to people, etcetera, in
ways that make your rendering of the holiday season
meaningful to them, no matter who they are.
This document is a kind of answer to those, for me merely
niggling, questions. One January, I pondered on why I do
still find Christmas traditions important... Despite my relative
isolation, despite commercialism, and apart from any religious
"factor" (which I acknowledge to be unshared by many
of those I know or am likely to encounter; and which is often
separate from many of the traditions I find enjoyable anyway).
And it occurred to me that my responses to that question I asked
myself might find resonance with other people who were wondering
the same thing.
It’s also an answer to the question... what?
What might be done to express what’s important in this
season that’s common to all... The importance of people to
each other, perhaps the delight of having and keeping
traditions, and the need for hope and uplift that renewal and
rejuvenation bring.
...Hence the many concrete suggestions for ways and means,
since people are always in need of ideas - often, from
which to brainstorm up the right thing, for them.
And if the right thing is one of these ideas? ...Well,
that’s why I’ve included an assortment of recipes and
instructions on how to make many of the things I’ve suggested.
Because not only is it frugal to make things - it’s meaningful
for someone to receive things "from your hands"
(layers of meaning). The things I’ve chosen to detail in this
way are also all relatively easy to make... because we’re
a busy, busy folk in this new century, and our exertions have to
be acceptable for us as well as to those we’re sharing
ourselves with.
My hope is that this book will be an aid to, perhaps even a
means to recapturing, enjoyment of the sharing season. ...It was
enjoyment to produce. (All those craft ideas gathered over the
years... A way to use them all, at last!)
Look! (or, Listen!; or, Smell that?) - it’s beginning!...
