Thanksgiving is a day to reflect, and be grateful for all the good things in our lives.
But living in the land of bountiful goodness as I do, I figured I’d better start a few days early.
So many blessings, so little time. I already have so much! And yet, I must still make weekly trips to the store to acquire even more.
How is it possible to fit so much “stuff” into one life? One house? One shopping cart?
Worst of all – there are times when the sheer abundance of choice makes it impossible for me to move.
For example: A few years ago, when both my boys were at summer camp, I promised I’d ship them each a new shampoo. Nothing fancy. Just shampoo.
Ideally, I was looking for something like the tube of Prell Concentrate that had gone to camp with me, centuries before.
So I went to the nearest supermarket, found the appropriate aisle… and was stopped dead in my tracks. I was literally dumbfounded.
I don’t know how I had escaped this moment for so long, but I suddenly found myself staring at a wall of brands and products – easily a hundred separate items – none of which I recognized.
“All I want is shampoo!” I wailed, when I recovered the power of speech. But nothing by that description was to be found.
Instead I found myself contemplating things I had never heard of or even dreamt about:
“Gunk.” “De-tangler.” “Axle-grease.” “Shine.”
These weren’t shampoos — were they? They sounded more like things that belonged on a shelf in the Last Chance Garage.
I moved over a little and kept on looking. “Reconstructing formula.” “Volumizer.” “Thickener.” “Filler.”
I seemed to have wandered into the spackle section of my contractor’s hardware store by mistake…but still no recognizable hair products.
I squinted closer at the labels. Oh my goodness, they were edible!
Pictures of oranges and berries decorated plastic containers. Products promised “entrancing flavors to tempt the senses,” with acai and goji berries and “blackberry sage tea”; pomegranates and mangoes; honey, butter and nectarines; kiwi fruit and lemon peel.
Other products promised the “nourishing” effects of avocado, coconut milk, tea-tree, mint and ginger.
I grew more and more confused. These elixirs appeared to contain more fruit than my refrigerator ever had.
Were we supposed to pour them on our heads? Or drink them?
Some of the labels abandoned the material world altogether, promising a “long term relationship” or “body envy,” “youth renewal” or “Peace.”
There was more creative writing here than in the entire New York Review of Books! One bottle promised to take my hair “to a place it’s never been before.”
“Yeah, down the drain,” I grumbled. But at least it admitted to having something to do with hair. I was tempted to buy it just for that – but it also had the longest list of perfume-sounding ingredients.
If I chose that, I ran the very real risk of sending my children something that would make them the laughingstocks of their bunks. So instead, defeated by this barrage of plenty, I went home empty-handed.
Eventually, I had a brain-storm. I collected the half-empty containers my offspring had left at home in the shower, took them to a smaller store and asked the clerk, “Please, sir, could I have two more?”
I still can’t make heads or tails of the Wall Of Hair-Care Products.
My menfolk fend for themselves, while I happily purchase whatever my hairdresser sells, just to avoid it. I wish he had recommendations for some of my other trials, like cereals, snack bars, and salad dressings.
To me, they are all proof positive that sometimes, even amidst all our wealth… or perhaps because of it… Less can definitely be More.
Especially at this time of year, I find inspiration in the Shaker hymn, “Simple Gifts”:
‘Tis a gift to be simple, ‘tis a gift to be free
‘Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
I am thankful for all my family members, and for their health; and I am thankful for all of you, my readers, without whom there would be no Lighter Side!
May we all enjoy a happy and healthy holiday.
