ItSA国际影视传媒檚 started. Some stores were stocking shelves with Christmas goods in October, but most of us held off buying until late November. As we all know, though, Christmas is most of all a time to remember that giving is not just about stuff. Stuff is killing us. Giving is about our care for each other and our environment.
One of the benefits of the season is that it reminds us to slow down and pass on goodwill to our family and friends. They get so lost in the business of our lives, yet life itself is so fleeting that Christmas reminds us to remember each other. This season gives us a chance to put on the brakes and think about those not as blessed as ourselves.
It is the season of giving, but it doesn't have to be the gifting of material things. Our consumer-driven society created that but it doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 have to be that way.
David Suzuki came out of retirement late last month to remind us to find alternative ways of expressing our care such as giving to environmental groups, people who have no food or animal shelters that are overflowing because people can no longer keep their pets. A story out of Alberta recently said that almost 1,000 pets were returned to shelters there this year compared to 200 last year because landlords won't accept them. The shelters here used to send rescues there but there is no longer room at the inn.
There are seniors and other shut-ins that will spend the season alone because they live on limited funds; and of course, there are those in war-torn areas, such as those in Gaza who have no food at all.
Giving is the way we walk in the world and it doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 have to be tied to material things. Giving is something we do spirit-to-spirit and giving to those in need enriches us as much as it does them.
At the same time that delegates were meeting at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan last month, trying to figure out how to slow the impacts of climate change, there was another gathering in South Korea hosting people trying to reduce or even eliminate plastic pollution. Plastic is filling landfills and waters. We are drinking microplastics in our own water and sea life is drowning under the weight of it.
We donSA国际影视传媒檛 need more gifts wrapped in plastic, we need to make the effort to stop its production. That is a gift worth giving.
We love giving our family and friends gifts as a demonstration of love, but there are other ways of showing affection that is longer lasting and could even save the planet for our children.
Maybe this year, we could focus on spending quality time together and sharing with those in need. Maybe this year we could create our own gifts from recycled goods. Maybe this year we could ring bells for the Salvation Army to raise funds for the many who have nowhere to go. Maybe this year we could help out at Food Rescue and separate food for the shelters and schools. Maybe we could see if the schools need anything for the kids. And maybe this year, we could head to the animal shelter to see if the four-legged homeless could use some hugs too.
We created a season that is bound up in things, but it doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 have to be that way. That only sets up expectations for the younger generation who connect giving and receiving to material things. Through our own actions, we can show that there are more meaningful ways to give. We can start a new chapter in our lives and the lives of others. How we act through this season sets a precedent. LetSA国际影视传媒檚 just give love.
This season, let's focus on the giving of our ourselves through our acts of affection and charity which, in the end, feeds us as much as it does the recipients. Stuff will come and go but what we share with each other stays forever.
Merry Christmas to you. HereSA国际影视传媒檚 hoping we all spend quality time with those we love.
SA国际影视传媒擭ancy Vail is a longtime Yellowknifer with an interest in social justice.
