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Health & Fitness

Wisdom for your holiday shopping.

How to shop for meaningful holiday gifts.

Let the holiday shopping begin!

The holiday season is once again here!.  That would be the season where most of us rush out to do our shopping so that we can buy gifts for our friends that they may or may not ever use. Words of warning:  Being on the receiving end of this creates clutter. 

I would like to recommend that each and every one of us carefully consider what we give to those we love and care about.  Don’t just buy to be buying.  If you don’t know what to get a friend or loved one, get them a gift certificate or a get them something unique like a psychic reading.  Or, you could take them shopping and let them pick out their own gift.  This may seem silly, but this insures that you will get them something that they love and will actually use and this is why:

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It’s a funny thing how slowly clutter creeps up on us. 

The first time I moved when I was in college, I was able to fit everything I owned into my 1969 Mustang.  I have to say that was the most liberating move I have ever made.  The car was filled mostly with clothes and a few things that I felt that I just couldn’t live without.

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The second time I moved a few short months later, I required a couple of car loads, again mostly clothes and a few more things like really super cheap pots and pans that burned everything I cooked and earned me a lasting reputation as a fairly bad chef.

A short time later by the third move, a small U-Haul truck was required.  While I was excavating the inheritance brick in my garage this past weekend, it occurred to me that now I would require some kind of moving van fleet, and a crew, were I to decide to move again.

My body was growing sorer and stiffer as I sifted through the debris and tried to determine what should go to the Goodwill or Grey Bears.  My mind, however, was in another slightly more weirded-out universe for the better part of this past weekend trying to figure out how I actually acquired the 8ft X10ft wide and 4ft tall pile.  Other than the selection of the “I no longer have room in my home items”, part of the pile is Christmas and holiday stuff for the shop and for the house.  A small part is show stuff that I use when I travel with the aura camera.  Another small amount of it is left over construction material for the house and shop from past renovations.  There is also some display stuff from the shop along with a few boxes of “we’ve really got to sort them” papers etc.  However, the vast majority of it appears to be the massive amount of stuff left behind from family now long gone from this earth. 

Based on the massive amount of other people’s stuff that I now have crammed into the back 40 of my garage, I’ve come to a clear decision.  I have to pare down, and I have to be very considerate of what I give or leave to others so that they don’t get stuck doing what I am doing, you know, trying to reclaim space, in 30 or so years.

(I might point out that my father actually moved an entire box of utility and similar bills from England in 1964 to San Jose.  There they sat in a box in the garage until they were again moved to Monte Sereno in 1971.  They arrived at my home in Aptos in 2010, where they were finally laid to rest in my recycle bin shortly thereafter.)

As far as what now remains of the massive amount of junk mixed in with valuable items that arrived several years ago, my goal is currently to sell what can be sold that has no real sentimental value, and give away what might be useful or of value to someone that I care about. 

After I finish sorting out my garage, I plan to sort out my home a bit too.  It has taken me a very long time to realize that it is perfectly okay to let go of things that don’t reflect my style or tastes or the style and tastes of my spouse.  I have also finally realized that it is totally okay to purchase things as a gifts to myself and to my spouse to replace items that we are not fond of with ones that we both truly love.

So you can see why I am of the firm belief that it is wonderful to give a meaningful and carefully chosen gift that will be used and appreciated, but if you aren’t sure what is wanted, it’s a good idea to give a gift certificate or let the person choose for themselves.  If you come to Avalon Visions, we’ll do our best to help you.  Just ask, and we will recommend a great gift that won’t be likely to become clutter any time soon.

Happy Holidays,

Gwen Thomas

Avalon Visions

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