My thoughts began turning toward Christmas yesterday … expectant … peaceful … and I was drawn to reread the poem “Amazing Peace” by Dr. Maya Angelou. I first read it in 2005: “Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes and lightning rattles the eaves of our houses….

Further to the article I just posted about the virtues of maintaining a thanksgiving attitude through the December holidays, here’s a creative and public way to simplify the holiday season.

Still feeling in the Thanksgiving mood, I was having a hard time switching to the Christmas season until yesterday when I felt myself looking forward to what has become a quieter and simpler holiday at my house. Have you simplified the holiday season? Do you wish you could? Join the discussion, offer your ideas and discover alternatives to the traditional gift-giving holidays!

Getting off the consumer bandwagon is hard! I’ve been working at it for about a half dozen years now and while I truly love a “less is more” approach to life it’s challenging at times to not go along with popular assumptions about “wanting more.” I recently picked up a copy of Juliet Schor’s latest book, Plentitude – The new economics of true wealth, to explore how I might deepen my commitment to a less material oriented lifestyle.

It is Thanksgiving season here in America. Soon friends and family will gather as they have for generations for the harvest season tradition of giving thanks. A few years ago I remember being caught off guard about the main objective of the season – being grateful. I was at a friend’s house a few nights before Thanksgiving Day and was asked what I had been grateful for that year.

In this Thanksgiving season let us remember that “it is in the shelter of each other that the people live.”