Buy Nothing Day = Black Friday avoidance

I almost got sucked in this year. Almost. My inbox held a "Black Friday 15% off!" email from a company that I deal with on a regular basis for supplies, some of which are presently in need of replacement.

What stopped me? The words BLACK FRIDAY. To me, those words have become synonymous with the desire for too much. Excess. And now Black Friday is synonymous with my personal desire for less, not more.

Black Friday is the name of the consumer free-for-all that begins the day after American Thanksgiving, the day when many businesses offer consumers deals in an effort to move their profit margin ledgers from red into black ink for the year. And the more they make, the better they like it.

The problem is that many of the companies who use Black Friday sales strategies have bought into the idea that profits must grow year after year in spite of the fact that constant economic growth can lead to societal and environmental destruction, just like too much constant growth in the human body is known as cancer. Big corporations can offer discounts that small entrepreneurs can't hope to compete with, and the public buys in. Small businesses go bankrupt, the rich get richer, and I'm sure we've all seen coverage of Black Friday madness from the past. Now it's just moved online, and the stuff that's ordered online and rejected/returned too often ends up in our landfills.

It all breaks my heart -- this insistence on jumping from the Feast of Gratitude into the frenzy of consumerism. That's why I love Buy Nothing Day so much. It's a day to stop and reflect on all that we do have instead of all that we don't. To consider other kinds of gifts than the material ones Black Friday pushers want us to buy. To think about reducing our consumption for the sake of creation and future generations. To live simply, so that others may simply live.

I know that Christmas is coming. But this old poster from the now defunct Buy Nothing Christmas organization still makes me smile.

There are better ways to celebrate Christmas, for sure. If you want some ideas, I have many on my Simple Christmas Ideas page (click here). If I had the time, I'd revisit one a day for the next 31 days. But that ship sailed once (10 years ago, now how is that possible?), and they're still pretty relevant. Besides, I have many other things to do in the coming Advent Season that I love so much, including Simple Christmas Idea #12 for my kids.

But I'll start into it all by buying nothing on this Buy Nothing Day/Week. Join me? 

And I'll re-moodle this: 

Black Friday Prayer (2016)

How much did we pay
to see a new day?
It's a gift.

A breath of air? Free.
But we often don't see
it's a gift.

A life lived in peace,
the warmth of our beds,
the food on our table.
the roof o'er our heads.
all gift.

But 
through no fault of their own
many children have grown
to adulthood with
less than they need...
Still, some go out in haste
to add to the waste
of our earth
through insatiable greed.

Too oft we are told
"with the first one sold
the second is half price."
O God, help us see
that your best gifts are free
and settle for our given slice.

Remind us, O God,
that it's not for sale --
your beautiful creation.
It's already ours,
to be cared for and loved
and saved for the next generation.

Our sense of possession
was not your intention
because Everything is gift!

Teach us how
to remember it now 
and always.

+Amen