Practical Hope in Hard Times: Christmas Without Shopping
Are you worried about Christmas with Empty shelves this year? Well, that is a good instinct, but remember, there were times in American history where we faced this before – and we have better tools now! That’s the good news.
First, the problem: The tariffs currently imposed against our former trading partners have effectively created an embargo around the US. Imagine sanctions against Russia, or if you are old enough to remember, the Cuban embargo? Or the Great Depression. Except this time, our allies will not be there for us. We are hurting them almost as much as we have hurt ourselves, and they will not soon forget it. It’s important to remember that this is an entirely manufactured crisis that could be repaired by lifting the tariffs now. It would take 6-9 months for the supply chains to rebuild, and probably more than a year to replace the wasted crops that are either rotting at the docks, in the fields, or being sent back to us. It will take longer to repair our relationships around the world. But this column is not about politics, it is only about the fallout of politics and how we are going to have Practical Hope in Hard Times.
Optimism is not a luxury. It is a survival skill.
So if you’re worried about having nothing under the tree for Christmas, start fixing that now. Here are just a few of the many ways to provide for Holiday cheer without money. I say Christmas, but of course I am referring to all holidays, from birthdays, to secular celebrations, and traditional celebrations of all types.
In the US, we have plenty of stuff. Our landfills, resale stores, and garages are overflowing. But, as much as possible, hold onto your hard earned cash for necessities – shelter, heat, water, healthcare – even food can be found free or less expensively. But for now, we are talking about presents. I LOVE giving pressies! IThe most fun birthday party I ever had was when we made a feast of Indian food, and I did the “Hobbit” birthday tradition of giving gifts instead of receiving them. Since we had little money, I gathered used, nearly free but worth reading, old paperback books and wrapped them in water colored newspaper. Most of our friends are creative types, so at the very least the idea made everyone jolly. Some traded books, based on personal taste. It was glorious. Holidays of any kind are an excuse for indulging that personal pleasure without breaking the bank.
So here are some ideas that you may not have heard of or considered.
Time. The gift of your time with someone, both quantity and quality, though do your best to insure the qualities are positive and healing where needed. With permission, always let loved ones in on your mental health, physical health, and well being otherwise. However, be discerning about how much any relationship can bear. Do not lay your heaviest burdens on new friendships, co-workers, with rare exception of former co-workers, acquaintances, or any other whom you have not directly requested that kind of support from. Do ask. That’s also a gift, when asked and when given.
Most importantly, do not depend on only the best of loved ones be your support as a substitute for professional help. If you are not sure, call a crisis line. They can set you up with someone to talk to in an emergency as you find a professional who is covered or affordable who is suitable for you. Personal concerns, like mental, physical, financial health as well as other concerns should be brought to the attention of experts. I will write another time about sorting through expertise of different types.
Most often cited regrets folks have when it is time to leave is not any kind of financial success, but not spending more time with loved ones. It is the only resource that cannot be recovered, repaired, or remediated. Once gone, it’s gone forever. Give the gift of yourself, to yourself, your loved ones, your community, and even strangers. The stranger the better. There is no gift so great as a bigger table, a kinder world. Like courage, kindness and caring are infectious. It is the most important part of what makes us human.
Care. This one has endless applications, but my favorite example is hand made coupon books for loved ones, or community members for that matter, donating everything from rides, to labor such as lawn mowing, housekeeping, and pet sitting, to personal care for loved ones, including hair washing, and footrubs.
Upcycle Crafting. Since yarn, and other materials for crafting, can be so expensive at retail prices, gather unused, old, torn and otherwise unloved clothes and use them to make fabric art.
Know someone who knits? Unraveled bundles of coordinated yarn colors might make a great gift!
Food. For years, in the midwest where I was from, we made huge batches of treats to combine, wrap and give during the holidays. One of my favorites amid the fudge, bar cookies, and traditional holiday fare was stained glass window candy. I am sure you can find a recipe online. Warning: not healthy, lol. Made with simple sugar, flavoring, coloring, and powdered sugar, the process is relatively simple. You will need a non-stick pan, a candy thermometer, hopefully a good pair of flexible cooking gloves, as melted sugar is HOT. The results, though, are a mixed and matched combination of colors that look exactly like broken, stained glass window panes. Recommend giving in small amounts, because they are pure sugar.
Buy from artists you know. Online artists can be a little pricey, especially if your aim is not to spend money at all. Some alternatives, however, would be trading with local artists, or artists you know for services. Most artists I know don’t drive, because — well — we’re poor. So asking, or posting a request on “buy nothing” or neighborhood sites and offering a limited amount of service in exchange for art might be a wonderful gift to the artist, so that you are giving as well as receiving at the same time: the fundamental basis for a gift economy. And while we are not going to be able to move away from the use of money any time soon, that does not mean that we cannot live lives full of joy, and music and beauty while having very little.
Shakespeare in the park. In almost every community you can find free – or nearly free – theater, music, poetry readings and storytelling hours performed by talented volunteers. You can find a list of these events in almost any community newspaper or magazine, as well as posting on your community boards and in shop windows in your neighborhood. And highschool productions of anything from music to theater can be surprisingly good. Why not support local kids and get to know more of your neighbors?
Other places to look include:
Buy Nothing Groups in your neighborhood. Look them up at buynothingproject.org . I have been a member of Buy Nothing groups in two neighborhoods for many years now. I have offered handmade jewelry, clothes, but also shelf stable, but open and resealed food items that I could no longer use because of diet changes. We gave away starches like flour, crackers, white rice, unopened cake mixes, shared harvests that were shared with us – apples, carrots, oranges – and cat food. Other non food items included downsized items like books, dishes, pans, furniture and small appliances. Over the years we received many things, but remember it is always ok to put out a request. I was looking for a hummingbird feeder for a couple of months, and then thought “what the heck, I’ll just ask”. Quite unexpectedly I was gifted a hand blown art glass feeder with a unique shape and brilliant colors.
Other things to look into are
https://thefreestore.org where gifts of every possible type, including food but also including clothes, toys, durable medical goods, furniture and other household items.
And, even if the tariffs are lifted tomorrow, you might consider a lifestyle change that includes spending less and sharing more. We live in a land of more than plenty. And the more cash you can hang onto, the simpler and less dependent you will be on the whims of those you work for and those you may not have elected, or did – doesn’t matter – the future is always uncertain. But a few books based on faulty data notwithstanding, human nature is fundamentally cooperative. We survive by helping each other and our advertising and economic pressures of stagnant wages have driven us into isolation from each other. As little time as we may have, it will go further with others. As I was told many times growing up in Michigan, many hands make light work.
Later I will offer lists of other ways to move from survival to thriving through sharing and community building. But this first blog is about the holidays, so I will sign off with some links.
Gratefully, Sarah
Thanks to:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/04/28/trump-tariff-battle-empty-shelves/ for reprinting this Bloomberg article.
The Savings Expert: The Truth About America Collapsing! The Cost Of Living Is About To Skyrocket! Morgan Housel gives a superb interview about coming economic realities, and realistic living
Spoils of the Silver Tree
Joey sat near the living room fireplace. Amber embers glowed a little between the charcoal remains of the logs set from the fire the night before. The room’s furniture was white and covered with plastic sheaths. They had mean teeth from the little metal zippers that left marks if you had bare legs. The boy only knew that his grandma liked to check things with her white gloves. He didn’t know why. As long as he didn’t eat in the front room, nobody yelled at him.
Joey was in luck. There was an old rag rope rug in front of the fire, and nobody cared if he played there. He was wearing his favorite PJs, soft flannel with cartoons of a swinging spider monkey swinging through the trees. Joey loved his jammies. But no playing spider monkey at Grandma’s. There was a white Holiday tree near the fireplace. It was decorated with blue lights and garland and it threw sparkles around the room.
Lace and little wooden toys hung on the tree. Joey was dressing a pretty Barbi doll in an evening gown of garland. The gown shimmered in the half-light of dawn peeking through the draperies. He loved the delicate thing he was bending with his stubby fat fingers. Unlike the colored birds in the cabinet, this toy didn’t break when he dropped it or bent it. So far it was the best toy ever.
La la la, the little Barbi danced as the boy held her half-bent arms out between his paper-cut fingers. On the second finger of his left hand hung a bit of tape attached to colored paper that matched the explosion of paper and boxes that surrounded him.
“Stop that!” came a vocal spank from his grandmother midway down the stairs. His sister, Helen, stood behind Grandma. Helen’s face was red, with lots of tears as she made nonsense noise.
Joey was popping the head off the Barbi. He squished the head back on and held out the doll.
Helen snatched it. Her bawling softened to sniffles.
Grandma marched into the kitchen. Once grandma was gone, Joey thought for a bit.
After a few moments, he pulled out the yellow Tonka truck from behind him. He gestured to his sister, Helen, and grinned.
She put the Barbi in the yellow truck and they pushed it across the carpet. She squealed with joy.
They conspired and played together in front of the fire. Their father sat at the top of the stairs, content and even a little proud of his children.
Christmas Mittens 12/13/2018
The line at the dental clinic was as long as it was every Tuesday. And, let’s face it, everybody hates to go to the dentist. Tuesdays were first come, first served, so we started lining up at 7 O’clock.
After 9:30 you were too late and wouldn’t be seen until next week.This Tuesday, my husband and I arrived first. We passed a man downstairs smoking a cigarette, talking to the security guard and we thought nothing of it. It was 7 O’clock.By 8 O’clock the phone beeped its alarm, and the doors to the clinic were opened.
I wheeled through the door, and a couple of people came after.It was December, and everything sparkled, or drizzled, depending on your point of view. I had a warm cup of eggnog coffee that David got me. I was warm in my fluffy coat and mittened hands. Someone was playing holiday music in the background. Not the canned sound tracks, but a series of calm and lovely instrumentals. They played some 12 string guitar, piano, japanese flute, and lulabye ensembles.Then, at 8:15, the cigarette man walks in, carrying smoke with him like an aura.
The man was gruff, irritable and looking for a target. “Sir, will you register and take a seat?” asked Sheryl, the very kind receptionist whom most of us knew pretty well as a decent woman. “I was here first!” he demanded.”No,” said Sheryl, setting a boundary. “Sarah was here first.
“Well!” he said even angrier, ” I would never take another person’s place in line. I could never do that!”
Implying that I had indeed done just that. It helps to know he was glowering at me while speaking.
Now, I don’t know how you feel about smokers losing their place in line. If you smoke, you probably get it. If you don’t, then most of us think smoking is a choice.But I do know two things. I know that smoking is very, very hard to quit.
And, getting older and now in a wheelchair half the time, I know what it is to be overlooked.”Sir,” I said, “You can have my spot. I will trade with you.””No ma’am! I couldn’t do that” he said, choosing to be right over what he wanted, maybe even needed. “I will not take someone else’s place. I just couldn’t do it.”
Having a new place in line, he stormed out.Maybe he needed another smoke.And you just can’t make some people happy, right?The denturist was late, so we were all waiting anyway. Children fussed. People read. Some listened to music on their phones and tried to ignore the rest of us. David and I filled out Holiday Cards.Then a little miracle happened.
As though he had remembered that he was a human being, Mr. Cigarette came back in.First he apologized to Sheryl. Then he turned to me, and with sweetness in his eyes and said, “I am so sorry. I treated you badly.
“It’s alright,” I said.”No, it isn’t. You should be treated better than that. We all should.”He introcuded himself as “MC”, and I told him my name and we talked about normal, neighborly stuff. Where we came from. What we came for, what we left behind. It is common that Northwesterners have immigrated, or come from an immigrant family. The Pacific Nothwest was always home to solid timber and fishing industries.
Then came the Naval jet fighter base, Boeing, Weyerhauser, and later Microswoft, Costco, Starbucks and of course, Amazon. The brain jobs pay well, and the rest of us, by Seattle Law, make $15 and hour. That is plenty of money, but not in the 2nd most expensive city in the U.S.
That leaves us in need of clinics, low income housing, day care, elder care, food banks, and other support systems that can be found here. I am grateful for everything from my landlords to USPS, where my husband works. Every place has its own economic ecology, and we had found our place in ours.
MC did in fact go in to see the denturist before me. A denture adjustment takes about 5 minutes. A denture alignment is 20 minutes of gooey impressions that taste like burned plastic with an aftertaste of peppermint. Maybe it’s seasonal. Next time I want rum, or butterscotch. Then after a two hour wait, the deturist refits the dentures, adjusts a bit, and you are free for the day to smell your teeth as they offgas fumes.
Five minutes into the pre-gooey wait, MC pops his head into my room smiling”They will be right with you. They just finished with me. And these guys will take good care of you!”
Which they did. I gave him my best toothless grin.MC also stopped to speak to my husband on his way out.”You know, your wife, she’s a keeper,” he says.”I know, sir. I try to take good care of her.” Said my husband.
Before this morning I was a walking wounded person, probably grieving things that need to be changed in the world which I have no power to affect.A friend of mine recently told me that I had been inaccurately applying the Talmudic concept that each of us must do our duty toward repairing the world.
“When that was written , Sarah, the book was refering to tending your garden, raising your children, feeding your livestock, pitching in to build a village bridge. It was not about facing off hoards of armed cossacks with only your bare hands.” He went further.”Somewhere between your sense of Catholic guilt and Jewish justice, you have dedicated yourself to things so far beyond your reach that you damage yourself in the attempt.”A truth about me.Today my reach is 5 feet wide, shorter if I am at a keyboard. Today I can write.And what I learned is:The world is ablaze and in danger.There are individuals, companies, and countries trying to reverse that.There is inequality, racism, sexism, rape, famine, war, fire, flood, homelessness, refugees, horrors both visible and invisible, but coming into view – it is all overwhelming.
Life is hard.
Life is good.
The world is eruel.
The world is kind.
The world is full of opportunity. Some people are mean. Some surprise you.
Sometimes it is the same person.
Sometimes, even, on the same day.the end.
PS. Every word of this story is true, except for mittens. I do not have mittens. I cannot find a pair to fit my long skinny fingers. The story gets mittens. The story needed them.
Christmas, Christmas mine
Mandolin snowflakes falling on french horn ears
Yearning for harmony
And offering their best in return
A modest gift
An open hand
Filled with his
So many kisses
So much overtime
Stolen moments
Flurries or no
Blizzards leaving silent blankets of
The death most survive
Most people
Most plants
Most animals
But not all
Remembrance is important
In hope
In love
In grief
In doors
Most of all in doors
I open mine
To the unwanted
Unknown
And greet this year with such grace as I can
I will not let go of my own thread of hope
However thin
However fragile
There is more
And less to us
Than dust
But while we are here
And even when we are not
We offer
Such as we offer
And it is good
It is all good
The great debate between faith in anything
And a frozen heart
Pauses
For one night
Of candles