Happy Thanksgiving 2013

Happy Thanksgiving. Trying to navigate a holiday based on celebration, gatherings, food and connections while being held hostage by consumerism is hard - Reminder, it is called Thanks Giving for a reason. And now stepping in ever so boldly is the idea of stealing that cocoon of quality time away from us with tempting deals to buy discounted goods. I say lower prices all year round, raise minimum wages, close stores for Thanksgiving. I heard a Walmart commercial on TV last night "Black Friday deals starting Thursday 5pm!"  WHAT? How can we allow this important day to chill be taken from us in this way? With so much going on in the world between the natural disasters, geopolitical strife, national tragedies involving guns, corporation malfeasance, it's hard to get in the spirit. I get it, so why not go out and just shop? But here we are folks, we can run from it or learn from it.  So on Black Friday (incidentally it's my B'day), I'll be buying N0-THING, I prefer to join the Buy Nothing Day movement, not get caught up in the frenzy where I could possibly buy something because it's there to buy, sparkling in front of me, teasing me when actually if I stepped back I most likely would say, "Do I really need that new_______?" - (you fill in the blank).
 
I invite us all as humans not as human consumers to take a deep BREATH and express our dignity and full expression of who we really are by spending the day in connection with others or even in quality time with our selves.  Imagine that?! Trungpa Rinpoche called breath "expression of our ordinary magic." So go out and breathe that magic, even for one day.

Thankful to Buy Nothing Day

Happy Thanksgiving, 

I hope that you can take the time to enjoy family and friends this Thanksgiving. To all my non-American friends may this message find you able to take time to be Thankful in some way. Here in the US, I'm saddened that mega consumption, through internet sales and early store hours minutes after our meal is finished, has set a place at the table. Thanksgiving Day which has been the least capitalistic holiday of the year is being co-opted by the right to shop. Can't we have one day off people?! So between eating the cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie, we'll be seduced into logging on and firing up the credit card. And 'Black Friday' lures people into impulse buying because of a discount. It gets nuttier and nuttier. We should instead be sharing a story or try to be in some kind of stillness. Friday after Thanksgiving should be a wonderful shut down day, to be whimsical, a day for reflection, not shopping, or working.  

I'm loving the Buy Nothing campaign seen popping up around the net. Buy Nothing Day to give Thanksgiving new meaning. Cool People Care's Sam Davidson writes on his blog "Nada For Me," pledge to buy nothing this Friday and stay out of the shopping whirlwind.

and Adbusters who encourage a Buy Nothing Day. Adbusters uses grassroots capitalism to start business ventures, spreading indie culture and providing ever more alternatives to buying from mega corporations. 

We Americans work so hard at working hard and take little time to just decompress. Now becoming contagious throughout the world, this is not some American invention we should be proud of.

So try and pledge to stay away from online sales Thursday, and the stores on Friday. 

Look to the sky, find a star, make a wish, smile at someone, anyone.  Makes you feel good. Or if you absolutely have to go online, watch some of my "What's Your Inspiration?" clips where I have filmed many commuters happy to chat and share their stories, their challenges and loves, and of course their inspirations.

Check out my "What's Your Inspiration?" channel on youtube. 

I'll be back in the subway December 5th.