People who knows me will have you know that I am not much of a shopper. I prefer to zoom in on what I am looking for, maybe pick a little bit of this and that here and there...nothing major. I, therefore, do not understand why some people can spend the entire day spending nor do I get 'retail therapy'. It spells financial woes at the end of the day.
Anyway, while I love the vibe of Christmas, the one thing that I hate the most about it is the consumerism. Did you see the crawl outside malls? Were you one of those who was caught in one of those bumper-to-bumper traffic jams around them? Good Lord!
I hate consumerism but I hate traffic jams even more, so, apart from zipping in and out of the mall as quickly as I could, I managed to avoid the jams quite effortlessly. However, on the other hand, I HAD TO get caught in the consumerism because one family member is a Christian. Oh come on, let's face it, when she hands pressies to your kids, don't tell me you can just kindly take it and say 'thank you' and not hand something back.
It takes all but one Christian, I say. :-) Because she starts handing out pressies to all the kids and cousins and everyone's got no other choice but give presents back.
It doesn't help that this person is well-off, of course because if she gives your kids some really expensive thing, you can't give her kids pencil boxes and coloring pencils!
You see where this is heading, don't you? A spiraling trend of consumerism.
Why I hate consumerism is because I am in the advertising, sales, marketing industry. I KNOW HOW TO BLOW THINGS OUT OF PROPORTION to make it look absolutely so cool that everyone wants to part with their money.
It's a whole lot of unnecessary shebang that ropes people in. You get into their minds and into their hearts. It's all about the money....and don't you just hate that? I mean, it's alright if we are celebrating Thanksgiving whereby we share moments together and give thanks for what we have in our lives but, to celebrate by spending a fortune on stuff? Well, only the retailers are happy.
No, wait.
Only the kids and retailers are happy. Sigh...the kids being happy and screeching at the top of their lungs, 'I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!'
Sigh...guess, I'm caught in this either way, eh? :-))))
I have been doing this pose, part of Cosmic Dance (a type of yoga, I am assuming), called Stargazer pose without knowing it is called Stargazer's pose a lot in the past. You see, sometimes, I don't follow the rules and come up with my own stretches and poses. It is fun. I have on some music, nice, soothing music or just anything I can click on. Then I go with the flow, letting my hair down. Just moving to the music...and that is when I come up with the above Stargazer's pose. This pose really stretches your sides. Keep your eyes on the outstretched hand if you are keeping it pointed to the top, as if you are waving or connecting to a higher energy from the Universe. Your arms will ache a little but hey, toned arms, here you come! :-) For those who want a bigger stretch, it is safe to slowly and gently move the lifted hand towards your back...don't overdo it, listen to your body's complaints and respect it. You don't have to prove anything to anyone, reme...
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Odd thing is though, after a while, no more presents and they avoid me. Don't know why.. but I'm still happy :)