Fucking Christmas.
And trash.
Christmas is trash.
I just cleaned out my apartment and moved into a condo. The apartment had lived in by an unnamed pack rat for almost 5 years. You know how much trash you can accumulate over 5 years? The place was only around 600 square feet. I estimate close to 200 of those square feet were dedicated to the housing of crap that was purchased by someone else for me and given on one Christmas or another.
And I don't really need any of it. And for a while, I just didn't have it in me to throw it out.
But now things were different. It was time to move. And I decided I was only going to pick up that crap one more time. So into the trash it all goes. Bags and bags of stuff. Not just filled with christmas gifts now. Mail. Junk mail. All kinds of mail: bills, notices, statements. Bags and bags of it.
Where does this all go? I just stared at all these bags, tied and knotted and ready for the
dumpster. I stared and couldn't think of anything but, "I'm just one person. And
look at all this space I'm taking up in this world with the trash I don't want. Trash I never wanted. Just one person. How much more can we hold?"
I don't want any more stuff. It's not even like I'm buying it; I don't.
Giving gifts on Christmas? Bullshit. What about Christmas means we give gifts to people we know? Give things to people you don't know. Give things to people who need things. Give things that don't take up any more space.
My mom needs help with her computer. That I can do. A family on craigslist needs a couch I don't want anymore. That I can do. Spending 3 hours walking around the mall looking for something that I can wrap in paper that has no personal meaning for the person I'm giving it to. That I can't do.
When I was younger, I used to be scared that all the good ideas in the world would be used up before I got around to being old enough to contribute to society. And I used to think that all the good melody's that could be created would be one day soon gone and no new songs would ever be made that were worth listening to.
And now I think of all of the space our trash fills up, and consider a future of limited landfills. One that forces us to live with this crap.
Please, this holiday season, buy consumables. Soap, service, and foods.
Delicious.
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