My gift list

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” – Mike Lipkin

This year I turned 37. I have had many years to accumulate things. I have an entire storage locker in the creepy basement of my apartment building that is full of crap I probably don’t need and rarely use. Often the challenge of cleaning my apartment is how to organize all the stuff I have. It feels wonderful to go through it and decide that a bunch of it can be given away – it always feels as though I’ve been relieved of a burden when I do.

There are certainly other things that I want or feel I need (clothes are one thing, as I haven’t really gone clothes shopping since May 2006), and while I might want this or that book, CD, or DVD, my tastes are quite personal and specific. I would like to travel to Europe finally, but have gladly chosen instead this year to visit my niece and nephew in Seattle whenever I’m invited because I don’t want to miss any more of their babyhood/development than absolutely necessary. I’ve bought myself a version of that Vita-mix blender I was coveting (an older model, but apparently still brand-new), and one day it’ll eventually arrive in the mail and then I’ll have fresh veggie smoothies to boost my energy and nutrition.

I’m not totally down on material things – I know they’re necessary sometimes and contribute to our pleasure and well-being (I do consider pleasure a necessity, in moderation). But I also think that there are other things that are sometimes more meaningful in our society of excess. And the last thing I want, for the love of muesli bread, is some gift that is just going to end up in some landfill somewhere.

Fortunately, if you are thinking of buying me a present for the holiday season (though I’m not suggesting that you should) Foster Parents Plan Canada (a non-religious, non-political charitable organization) has the perfect solution – Gifts of Hope. Ranging in cost from $15 to $2000 CDN, you can give me (or anyone else you love, for that matter) a gift for someone who needs it more. You could buy me:

• books for a child in Sierra Leone (something my mom gave me last year that I found very exciting and rewarding);
• books for a “Library in a Box” in Haiti (yes, I know that’s books twice, but I’m a bibliophile, what can I say??? I can't imagine life without books!);
• tree seedlings in Benin (helping people AND the environment – wooo hoooo!);
• mosquito nets in Uganda (according to a recent edition of the Globe and Mail, mosquito nets are dramatically reducing child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa);
• farming tools for Niger (ooh, independence – how important is that??? AND it goes back to my roots growing up on a farm!);
• training for health workers in Bolivia (I get a little miffed when my doctor’s phone line is always busy – can you imagine what it must be like to have no trained medical assistance available at all???);
• literacy training for women in Niger (ah, the sweet opportunity to help my fellow women become more empowered! I can’t stand it, it’s so exciting!!!);
• protecting trees and water in El Salvador (can you think of two things that are more important physically, aesthetically, emotionally, spiritually???).

There is a whole bunch more – Plan’s done a great job widening the selection and creativity of the solutions they are offering this year. I might just have to go and buy myself a few holiday presents!!! (Oh, and let's not forget to mention that these gifts are tax-deductible!)

In the end, this post is NOT about what to buy me for Christmas. It’s about doing what really matters with one’s time and resources. I know you’re doing the same thing in your own life – why else would you have read this far??? Feel free to use the comments to tell me what you’re planning or already doing to make a difference and how you are bucking our materialistic society’s dictates. I will cheer you on (and also feel very proud to have such enlightened readership)!