In The Mail

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 - smokin_aces

To write a blog post I enjoy getting into the right headspace and physical surroundings. For example, I know from experience that I don’t have much to say in the early mornings. Throughout the afternoon I’m firing on all cylinders and my mind is moving too fast while dealing with the ‘important stuff’ to slow down and reflect. Once in a while I pound out a very aggressive reaction piece in the aft, but nothing calm and introspective. After work it seems there is always some tedious task around the house that needs attending to, and after dinner I always prefer to just ‘be’. (and by that I mean get a few tables going while relaxing on the porch) It’s in the hour before sleep that I find myself most inclined to look back on the day’s events and comb my mind for inspiration. Since I sneak in at least two hours of online poker during the day (sometimes more once my wife falls asleep and I pull my laptop onto my stomach in bed)(don’t worry she doesn’t read this), I prefer writing about poker. So tonight I cleared my mind and just encouraged the flow of creativity. Instead I got blood curdling anxiety.

Why? Because the holidays irk me to no end with the huge amount of planning, spending, planning, spending etc. Tonight the grim realization has hit me that yet again, i’ve left my gift shopping till the last damned weekend before hell day. I despise shopping for gifts for many reasons but the biggest is that I really don’t think people want half the crap they get and why should they? Do I really claim to know the people around me well enough to choose the one or two items to give them each year. We’re odds people and we know that is just not likely. Sure you can ‘ask’ them what they want but then you’re not really surprising them with anything. And then you have the budgeting! That’s the toughest part. I have actually put things back on the store shelf after realizing that although it’s $129.99, it could come across as $69.99 if you didn’t know any better. Why spend that much for some brother in law’s mother if she won’t even realize it’s worth? Plus I believe wholeheartedly that with all the pressures facing us, the real value of the holidays is the time spent together. The time we take to slow down, look at each other, appraise the wonder of our lives and celebrate the fact that we can even celebrate. The gift giving is secondary and relatively unimportant. So, in order to put my mind at ease, I had an epiphany. I’m not going shopping at all. I’m not desperately trying to figure out who would like what and where I can get them. Gone are the days when I draw my shopping course on a map of the city in order to minimize the agony of the holiday traffic rat race. Instead I’m going to turn to the thing that makes poker work. The poker machine also does many other wondrous tricks and one of them is online shopping. It’s gift cards for everyone this year. Simple, elegant, universal and practical. You know what else? It’s actually VERY thoughtful! Instead of forcing something on someone they have to fake liking until they can regift it or bury it in a closet, you’re providing them with the joy of selecting something they actually want.

This didn’t have a whole lot to do with poker and damn it if that was not my original intention. Oh well, as usual the writing process has been cathartic. I no longer have that deep, nagging holiday anxiety. Now I can join some tables for an hour and sleep in peace, knowing the gifts are in the mail.