Maybe Less Is More

This is still bothering me. Five days later. I'm sure you've heard it on the news by now. I heard it and was aghast. I keep thinking about it.

Last Friday morning, a 34-year-old Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death as a mob of shoppers broke down the door in order to save some money. Hundreds of people stepped on another human being's body in order to buy things. Turns out, it was death by suffocation.

What does it mean?

I don't want to be all negative. It's the season to buy things. Give things. I'm not opposed to people trying to save a little money when everything is so tight. But what does this story teach us about joy and generosity? Even more, what does it teach us about economy or humanity? What does it mean when people buy anything and everything just because it's "on sale"?

And, maybe the most difficult question of all – What kind of human being can step on another human being and not even notice? Or worse, notice but not care?

It's all so complicated. The point of this post is that I've been wondering what I can do to make any kind of difference at all in this madness.

I made a list.

• I will buy less.
  
• I will simplify at least one aspect of my own Christmas tradition.
  
• I will make more handmade gifts.
  
• I will pause before I buy anything and ask myself, "Will the recipient really want/use/enjoy this thing or am I buying it because I don't know what else to get?"

All this thinking really came together when I was working on my little button wreaths. Ali was sitting next to me on the couch, doing some work she brought home from the office. I was sorting and stringing buttons and thinking about the story that each little button could tell. Who wore these clothes? Were they happy or sad? Were some of these buttons from special occasion clothes? Or regular old work clothes? Why did someone cut them off and save them?

I thought about all the summer Saturdays she and I had spent at flea markets and junk stores, hunting for "treasures." We had such fun finding the unexpected – buttons, thimbles, books and furniture.

It was then that I realized that it was going to be a sacrifice for me to give away my little button wreaths. I told Ali that I really loved making the wreaths, but I wasn't quite as excited about giving them away. She said, "Honey, next summer I'll buy you some more."

A little handmade button wreath may not seem like much. Especially compared to some new toy or electronic must-have of the month. But it comes from a place of generosity and simplicity. I really do believe that simple can be magical and wonderful and that a few carefully chosen gifts can be much better than a huge stack of packages to open just for the sake of more.