Black Friday, Blue Monday, White Christmas

Merry Christmas to you all. I have come to look at this term as inclusive. How’s that for politically incorrect? It is a gentle salutation. Merry is to semantics what a banjo is to music. Have you ever heard a sad banjo? The day after Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the Christmas season. So why call it Black Friday? Sounds ominous to me. Black Monday relates to the crash of 1929. I discovered through the wonders of Google that every day of the week has a ‘Black day’. Given the history of Western civilization, that should come as no surprise.

But this is a special day. The beginning of a deliberate and conscious focus on generosity. Why not Friday of Joy or Grateful Friday or Show Your Love Without a Purchase Friday? I’m not putting merchants down, although the commercialism gets tedious after a while. In my view the frantic advertising reflects fear, so it can’t be too much fun for them.

This year in particular, the notion of mass consumerism has a ring of incongruity. I can’t buy everything I’d like for all the people I love. Like many people these days I am a gust of wind away from totally broke. So what? The whole state of California is broke. If California was a person, it would be homeless and in litigation. Hell, I’m just a little short right now and that’s OK.

The current economy is nudging the creativity within us. I am among those who believe the human race is in the midst of a spiritual shift. In many traditions, this is the time of rebirth. But a birth is messy. It is painful, bloody and dramatic. After the miracle of life emerges and the child takes its first full breath, the pain and drama fade into a thin mist. I believe the race is in labor and the sacred midwife is present and we are being taken care of.

This year, I’m going to enjoy myself in spite of the rantings of the nightly news and doomsdays prophesy. I have no control over anything except how I behave. I invite you to join me in having a good time and helping those around you to do the same. It doesn’t have to cost you a dime either. I’m going to start by calling people I’ve been meaning to call and say something nice about them. We’ll see where it goes from there.