I'm so glad Christmas is over. Now it's time to vent.
I deeply dislike this ritual of giving and receiving presents. Finding the ideal present is extremely stressful for me. Receiving an un-ideal present and putting on an act that you're grateful is equally stressful ( and i don't do that well ).
With a ~50% chance you'll be giving or receiving something that isn't wanted and somebody needs to act happy about it, this is not a win/win. The end result is stress, expense, and unnecessary consumerism for most participants.
Let's be honest... some of the things you got are going in the trash. Some things you gave are going into the trash. There's something dishonest and wrong about engaging in this practice more than one time. But we do it anyway because everyone else is doing it and nobody wants to be the honey badger.
We in the west are already disgustingly consumerist as it is. Our footprint on the planet is huge. A majority of the things we produce, buy, and sell end up in landfills without being completely used up for no good reason, other than the very temporary satisfaction buying or receiving them produces.
Christmas represents kind of a blatant disregard for the environmental and mental/spiritual problems with consumerism. It is the opposite of thanksgiving, where the point is to be thankful for what you have and enjoy each other's company. But when, we dump out the cup of gratitude and proceed directly to black friday. How horrible!
I have wanted to swim against this tide many years and i think this year i've finally had enough. I have been becoming less consumerist, more frugal, and more minimalist as the years go by, and opening each present was kind of painful because each item represented a physical burden to me, at a time in my life where i see stuff as an anchor.
I say we nuke this tradition it from orbit, or institute some serious cultural reforms. Next year, i'm being the honeybadger. I will be calling people i usually exchange presents with and telling them i'm grateful for them in my life, but that i chose not to participate in this practice either ways. And that's that.