Even if you have a steady job and paycheck it is difficult to avoid feeling impacted by the economic news that has been slamming all of us in the face for months. So here we are at the primary shopping season of the year and what do we do?

The best thing, of course, is to take care of ourselves. Though it goes against the capitalist mantra of “buy, buy, buy,” I still wonder what Christmas would look like if the response was to live within our means. Happily living within our means whatever they may be.

Think about the pressures, both direct and disguised, that are put on us. Television ads blare out the latest in gadgets and doodads in a cacophonic crescendo that reaches its peak at this time every year. Television shows do the same thing, but disguise their selling with the manufactured happiness of family and friends having fun and crazy times. Newspapers and magazines have been filled with articles that promote the “fun” of numerous holiday expectations, and advertisements that market the “necessities” to meet those expectations. And how long have some stores been playing Christmas music?

Making Christmas a meaningful holiday sometimes seems less like a choice and more like a battle against this compulsory cheerfulness. It’s not that we are opposed to the joy of the season, but that we are being force fed it as a “one size fits all” approach funded by money alone.

So how can we push through all that to find and create our own preferences especially when the commercial interests are in our faces for months? It can take strength and determination but, perhaps surprisingly, economic woes can also be a catalyst.

If you are one of those facing a particularly bleak holiday because of a job loss you may feel you have nothing to celebrate. But consider what you do have right now and what you can make of it. I cannot find the reference, but I do remember reading in one of my books about a young married couple who, because of their tight finances, had promised each other that they wouldn’t exchange gifts for their one-year anniversary. But when the day arrived, the wife came home to find upon the table a beautifully-wrapped gift. When she reminded her husband of their mutual promise, he smiled and urged her to unwrap it. She did. It was a book of her favorite poems. She started to protest, but he opened the book. Inside she found a Due Date card reminding her that the book was to be returned to the library in three weeks.

Some people might see that as cheap. I found the story touching. If someone did that for me I would treasure that book for the whole three weeks, and I would keep that paper and ribbon forever. 

Re-creating the meaning of Christmas in your own “language” can be a joyful journey of discovery. It can stir your imagination, stimulating you to define for yourself and by yourself what you “see” as Christmas. This is important because we are being told that the economy can’t recover without consumer help. Wall Street wants you to shop. Even we at BiblioBuffet encourage you to put books on your Christmas list. But it is you and you alone who knows if that is what you would choose if you made an honest, thorough assessment of your feelings, your desires, your choices, and your finances.

I, for example, no longer buy trees or hang lights and ornaments. That’s due less to finances than to three cats who cannot resist eating anything green or chewing on anything bright. I don’t make promises of cookies or buffet items because I don’t want to bother with extra cooking and baking. Christmas cards dropped off my to-do list long ago. I avoid most stores because I dislike shopping at any time of the year but particularly so now. But I do like to stroll the downtown area, enjoying the carolers, lights, and decorations on the streets, sidewalks and in the store windows. I attend the many free Christmas concerts and visit the neighborhoods where the homeowners go all out with their decorations for the enjoyment of others.

Since I am passionate about books they are what I give, though I am careful to choose books that reflect my recipients’ interests. And because I enjoy making small special food items that are expensive to buy but not to make—flavored butters, oils, mustards, mayonnaises, and sugars—I often include those. If money is particularly tight I am more likely to do my book shopping at nonprofit book sales and the library's sale shelves than at stores.

What about you? If you can’t afford to take your significant other out to dinner, could you take her or him on a long companionable walk, just the two of you? If you can’t afford a book, could you read aloud a book to your children? If you can’t afford to house and feed a pet now, could you and your child spend time together at the local animal shelter playing with and assisting in the care of the cats or dogs? If you can’t afford a Wii, can you afford an old-fashioned board game or a couple of decks of cards? If you can’t afford expensive coffee houses, can you afford to make a flask of coffee and head to your local park to sit and listen to the birds? If you can’t afford a trip, can you get information from your local Chamber of Commerce about all the free and low-cost tourist activities and sites in and around your town? If you can’t afford to buy all those new books you want, can you check them out  from the library and wrap them in pretty paper to be opened on Christmas morning? (I did this one year and was surprised at the thrill I got from seeing all these “new” books.)   

My point is that if you are struggling this season, don’t avoid celebrating or acknowledging the goodness you do have in your life. We all have some. Finding and appreciating it is more a question of breaking through societal and commercial expectations than anything else. So whether that goodness includes a significant other, children you love, or friends you care about give them something that holds meaning for them and for you. Even if it is a wrapped library book.
 
Upcoming Book Festivals:
There are none this week.

The Pub House:
Turtle Point Press opened its doors in 1990 to publish “forgotten literary fiction . . .  contemporary fiction and poetry by writers whose work is both unique and irresistibly readable” in beautifully-designed editions. (Turtle Points also publishes nonfiction.) Far from being an unknown publisher—though they deserve more attention from readers—they have won major prizes including recognition by the Booker and the New York Times Notable Books of the Year list. The publisher’s unsystematic way of discovering books he wants to re-issue is detailed in a fascinating article but basically it involves a combination of love and luck.

Among their recent and forthcoming books are Dresden, a newly re-discovered memoir about growing up around a German family at the turn of the twentieth century, and Now Voyagers, James McCourt’s “touching, inventive, and outlandishly funny” novel about the opera world and New York in the mid-1950s.

Of Interest:
Our weekly book giveaway continues. This week I have the new paperback version of Lion Eyes by Claire Berlinski. It is the story of a fictional Claire who (like the author) lives in Paris and falls in love with a man she has never seen, The Lion. Her fantasy of who he is and what he wants is far from the reality. If you are interested in winning it, send me an email with your name and mailing address. If I get more than one person who wants the book I’ll put names into a jar and draw the winner. Note that no one in the same household can win more than two books during the course of this giveaway, which runs through the end of January.

This Week:
Looking for fabulous books at exceptional prices? If you live in or near Minneapolis, head on over to the Casket Arts Building (681 17th Avenue NE). They are liquidating an entire store’s inventory. Prices are $1 for hardcovers and $0.50 for paperbacks. New titles are put out each week. It is open each Saturday and Sunday before Christmas so you still have time to shop.

Until next week, read well, read often and read on!

Lauren