This year skip the excess and find the joy that lasts.

Many of us are craving a simpler more mindful holiday season.

The holidays are meant to bring joy, yet somehow they’ve become a marathon of excess.  We are overspending, overdoing, and overwhelming ourselves in the process. Each year, millions of tons of perfectly good food, packaging, and gifts end up in landfill while so many people go without. This season, I want to challenge that pattern. What if we measured the holidays not by how much we buy or do or have, but by how much peace, gratitude, and kindness we spread?  How much good we can do.  Real joy doesn’t come from consuming no matter what the advertising industry tells us and we know it.  It comes from caring for others, for ourselves, and for the planet we all rely on.

 Finding joy in less

Imagine starting the new year feeling fulfilled, grateful, inspired and energized instead of having to practice dry January, self  impose major spending restrictions and dedicate whole days to clearing away the extra stuff.   How great would that be? How much more would we have really enjoyed our holidays?

Perspective is key to happiness

For starters we need to have some perspective, specifically about how lucky we really are in comparison to most people on our planet.  Then we need to be honest with ourselves about the terrible impact our overconsumption and overdoing has on our wellbeing and the well being of the earth.

If all the crap we buy for ourselves and our families and friends really brought us joy, why then do we feel so depleted and exhausted come January.  We know we are doing too much, buying and spending too much and creating way too much waste while millions of others go without. We also know that monetary and materialistic values are actually linked to anxiety and dissatisfaction.  Living amongst clutter is stressful and distracting and overwhelming.

Conscious consumerism might be the answer 

So what if we pushed back against the norm, one that is ultimately created by advertisers and influencers, and we prioritized doing things that really do bring us joy.  What if we focused on how can we help others or how can we truly connect with people we care about. (That Anthropologie candle is fooling no-one my friend). Click here for 6 ways to clebrate the holidays like a minimalist.

Reducing holiday waste and stress

Each year, millions of tons of perfectly good food, packaging, and gifts end up in landfills while so many people can't even afford the basics. We would have to be blind and deaf not to see how much suffering exists in our world. From war and persecution abroad to hunger and poverty right here at home. Ignoring it and plowing ahead in pursuit of more doesn’t feel good, because deep down we know it’s not authentic.

Every Thanksgiving, Americans throw away roughly 200 million pounds of turkey—about $300 to $400 million worth of perfectly good food. Enough to feed entire communities for months, instead of landfills for years.  Paper goods for gift wrapping amount to as much as 40 million tons of waste annually at a cost of about $5 BILLION.  Plus, most of wrapping paper isn’t recyclable!

Less is definitely more!

We need to stop putting so much pressure on ourselves.  Chances are very good that our children already have rooms full of toys they don’t play with and clothes they don’t wear.  Unwrapping 40 packages at Christmas makes kids happy for about that many minutes and then they wonder what is next.  They will grow up feeling as dissatisfied as many affluent people in our society report feeling today despite having every single basic need and then some met. Let’s teach them the joy of helping others and caring for our planet.  That is good for everyone.

Holiday simplicity allows us to celebrate with purpose.

Celebrate with purpose 

I’m not suggesting we stop celebrating the season.  Every human being deserves to feel joy and connection.  However,  the way we so often go about it can actually keep us from finding either. Intentional living isn't about deprivation, its about celebrating with purpose. Take time to figure out what genuinely makes you and your family feel good, and shape your holidays around that. When our celebrations habits and traditions reflect our values instead of expectations, is when we discover genuine happiness.