Every year I seem to reach this point, the last week before Christmas, and I’m still trying to figure out what on earth I’m doing with shopping... It‘s not that I deliberately leave it to the last minute, it’s just the way that it always seems to end up!
I have a few explanations for this. The first is that I always really want to get people something that they will love. I can spend weeks agonising over what to get someone, the perfect gift for that person. Not only that but it needs to be something that they will love which will also fit into my budget, which (being a poor impoverished actor) is never as much as I’d like it to be. Especially when my car insurance is always due mid December. And the final reason is that I actually need to find the time to GO shopping! Having done Christmas performance work for the last 5 years I tend to be rushed off my feet and working some pretty ridiculous hours over the festive period. I’m currently performing every day for two weeks straight in this year’s pre-grotto show!
To make matters even trickier this year, my family have decided that we are no longer going to buy each other novelty gifts or things that we don’t need or won’t use. While this does make me very happy in terms of being more sustainable and eco-friendly, it also makes it more difficult to decide what to get each other for Christmas. I love the idea of giving time and doing things together as a present, but often these experiences or days/evenings out come with a bigger price tag. That being said I have almost finished deciding what I’m going to do and buy for most of my loved ones, but I just have to figure out the others and then how I’m going to wrap and present said gifts in as eco-friendly a way as possible.
I do love Christmas and for me it has always been about family time and coming together more than anything else. It’s great to spend time with one another and to show each other how much you care. Next year I hope to be a lot more ready and prepared but this year for me has essentially been a year of working hard to prepare for the rest of my life, so I’m ok with being a little bit disorganised for now! But next year I will be ready and I won’t STILL be Christmas shopping with only a week to go until the big day and no days off between now and then. At least I hope I won’t...
I have a few explanations for this. The first is that I always really want to get people something that they will love. I can spend weeks agonising over what to get someone, the perfect gift for that person. Not only that but it needs to be something that they will love which will also fit into my budget, which (being a poor impoverished actor) is never as much as I’d like it to be. Especially when my car insurance is always due mid December. And the final reason is that I actually need to find the time to GO shopping! Having done Christmas performance work for the last 5 years I tend to be rushed off my feet and working some pretty ridiculous hours over the festive period. I’m currently performing every day for two weeks straight in this year’s pre-grotto show!
To make matters even trickier this year, my family have decided that we are no longer going to buy each other novelty gifts or things that we don’t need or won’t use. While this does make me very happy in terms of being more sustainable and eco-friendly, it also makes it more difficult to decide what to get each other for Christmas. I love the idea of giving time and doing things together as a present, but often these experiences or days/evenings out come with a bigger price tag. That being said I have almost finished deciding what I’m going to do and buy for most of my loved ones, but I just have to figure out the others and then how I’m going to wrap and present said gifts in as eco-friendly a way as possible.
I do love Christmas and for me it has always been about family time and coming together more than anything else. It’s great to spend time with one another and to show each other how much you care. Next year I hope to be a lot more ready and prepared but this year for me has essentially been a year of working hard to prepare for the rest of my life, so I’m ok with being a little bit disorganised for now! But next year I will be ready and I won’t STILL be Christmas shopping with only a week to go until the big day and no days off between now and then. At least I hope I won’t...