I don't do Christmas shopping. When I was a kid, the packages under the tree met more to me. I even remember being a bit envious, one year, when my older sister got a few more packages than me. She had friends up the street that gave her things while I only got things from other family members. I guess it helps to have friends.
As a child, my views were more simplistic. That seems common for children. Later in life, I started learning more and could see beyond just how many toys one gets.
By the time I got to college, I was able to appreciate what my mother said when we all came home one year and she coined the phrase, "it's not the presents that matters, it's our presence that matters."
Not having small children in my life, today, means that packages under the tree don't matter that much to me. To some extent, I realize that connection can be more important than the objects themselves. Less simplistic thinking, I guess. Kids might be less apt to figure this out, tho I'm sure that some kids do. It can be more likely for adults to understand this.
For instance, I see no point in lining up outside a store to get the latest fancy phone. I realize that it isn't really what's in the phone that's so important, it's the network that the phone connects to. As long as the device can provide a reasonable connection to the network, that's enough for me. What's really exciting, to me, is that the network keeps offering more and more. The network isn't something I can own. It's the community we all share.
Speaking of community, I don't have a Christmas tree at home where hardly anyone except me would see it. Instead, I take a set of LED lights to the road which light up my bicycle helmet. More people see it out there and it improves bicycle safety. Above picture was taken at a Halloween party. Part of my costume was a picture of a billboard in a tombstone sales yard. The billboard said "Drive carefully, we can wait." Saw that on a cross country trip in 1991.
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