The Essence of the Holidays

Winter has finally hit Southern California.

It’s cold and breezy and a perfect temperature for Christmas. December is a month of celebrations.

I love this time of year. I marvel in my heightened senses; the fresh smell of pines, the shimmering lights, the accessorized picture perfect homes, the jolly tunes and melodic beats. Every time I step out, I sense the excitement and anticipation as shoppers intently run around, joyfully searching for the perfect gifts to give away. I’ve never understood what shopping has to do with Christ, but this time of the year is a true testament to the spirit of kindness, the joy of giving, and the happiness the holidays bring.

I’m not a big shopper, but I have to admit that on a grander scheme, all the shopping does indeed turn the wheels of our global economy—the wheels that all inter-connectivity depends on, no matter where we live on the spherical globe. All the mindless shopping we engage in at this time of the year, as frivolous as it may seem, shapes our purpose.

It’s an empowering feeling to know that through the click of my finger on my iPhone, I have given the ability of earnings to someone hundreds of miles away. I have helped an impoverished man, woman or child living in a village on the other side of the world. My finger has suddenly unleashed a slew of actions. Starting from making the product, to boxing it, to sorting it, to flying it on a plane across the globe, to driving it to a distribution center, to sorting it again and finally, to driving it to its final home. I have employed multiple people in an effort to purchase one product. It’s mind boggling thinking of all the hundreds of millions of products and all the subsequent actions that they set in motion. In fact, at this very second, there are thousands of people clicking their devices and making a purchase. Though the true essence of the season is about love and kindness and not about purchasing, one can’t deny the two opposites are more closely tied than they appear.

No doubt, I love the sights, smells and the sounds of X-mas. But for the first time, I don’t feel much guilt in buying another camera for my husband who already has a few, or gadgets and candy for my kids which they’d probably be better off without. At least now I know, the action of my finger, among the millions of other fingers, is making a difference in someone’s life way across the globe.

Susan Massoudnia
Dec. 2018