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What is Best?



A brief moment of protest.


I’m not entirely sure what “Living your best life” entails, but I’m pretty sure that it doesn’t require  the purchase of this or any other product. This piece in Highsnobiety asks,

 What Does Living Your Best Life Mean, Anyway?

 Looking at this advert made me think of a hilarious recording by Stan Freberg that my family played each year. Entitled “Green Christma$”, it was a send-up of how an ad agency and various business looked to commercialize every aspect of the holidays to sell more product. You can listen to it here. 

 Yesterday my school participated in our annual December all-school assembly. Included in the mix is the time-honored tradition of having faculty and admin act out Dr. Seuss’s Grinch story. It contains a message particularly precious in a Quaker school as we aim for simplicity in a highly consumerized world.

 Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!
― Dr. Seuss

 Head of School Tom Gibian talked about the tradition in his family of putting an orange at the toe of each stocking. Of course now it now seems mostly familiar and maybe a bit boring, but the history of how this tradition came to be stems from a tine when it was both precious and exotic. 

 While I don’t believe that anything you buy can magically determine whether you are living your best life, I do think you can spread some goodness around by shopping local. As you know, I’m a big fan of From Momma’s Kitchen and Neat Nick Preserves. I read yesterday that Howard County is promoting shopping trips on Main Street Old EC. You can pick up a ten dollar voucher at the Howard County Welcome Center. Learn more here.

 I can’t say that you will be living your best life by doing this, but I think it will feel good and bring joy to others, too. That seems like a worthy holiday goal to me. Shop local and celebrate community.










Celebration in the Woods Advent Calendar: 




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