Medieval peasants knew about affording the holidays. I see modern ads about affording the holidays by credit card companies. The peasants were smarter. What they did, we can do, no plastic required.

Go ahead and romanticize medieval times. They were tough, at least measured against modern healthcare and technology. But fun has not been a modern invention. Peasants had fun. Sure, they had dramas and traumas, but they didn’t have to go into debt to produce a feast, take time off, get together with friends and family, and be thankful for what they had.

Affording the holidays is a modern invention. Our consumer economy doesn’t demand it, but the companies greatly encourage it. I even sell during the holidays, but I don’t want anyone to buy my books or photos by using credit they can’t afford. Luxuries do make nice gifts, but luxuries are not necessities in many ways.

Pardon the repetition, but I’ll tell you about one of my most memorable gifts: a Nerf ball.

I can’t recall many of my gifts, and I can’t recall who gave and who got the Nerf ball, but it was something between my Dad and me. I wasn’t a kid. I was 25. In retrospect, I was still maturing, but I was also becoming aware that expensive did not equate to appreciated. I was visiting home in Pittsburgh from my new home outside Seattle. It was only Mom, Dad, and me. We sat in the living room, beside the tree covered in white twinkle lights. (My Dad preferred old, warm, colored lights, but without me there, he lost that battle.) One of us opened a very light box, pulled out a Nerf ball, and laughed. My Mom, who appreciated but couldn’t afford the very nice things, was taken aback and wondered why we’d gift a Nerf ball. My Dad and I looked at each other, and bounced the ball off each other’s foreheads. We threw it back and forth – and laughed. My Mom was confused. My Dad and I had fun. I remember that gift from over forty years ago.

There are a few other memorable gifts from the recent decades: a particular mug that I relied on at work because it held so much, ski boots that almost fit but I used for years, – and I pause as nothing else comes to mind. I’m sure I enjoyed gifts every year. I know I enjoyed the time I spent with people. I know I enjoyed a good, basic feast. I know I enjoyed time to relax. I know that there has been almost no correlation between the price of the gift and the enjoyment I received.

Peasants couldn’t afford luxurious gifts, unless they made them. Feasts couldn’t be expensive, but they had a chance at producing quantity, and maybe roasting that goose or making that sweet dessert. They could make music and dance, tell stories and laugh, and care for each other. And undoubtedly, there were arguments and disagreements and slighted emotions because the romanticized notion wasn’t real. But they didn’t have to wonder how they were going to afford the holidays.

Medieval peasants weren’t coerced by ads to buy things they couldn’t afford. They didn’t have Black Friday and Cyber Monday. No batteries were required. There were no returns, though a few days later, there may be exchanges. They weren’t told that the economy required them to spend for the sake of the economy.

Medieval peasants had lives that were tough enough that few of us could survive them as well as they did. But, they knew what to do with holidays and holy days. Enjoy them. Celebrate them. No credit cards required. No monthly payments. No piles of wrapping paper and cardboard boxes. And then, back to work. And then, enjoy the next celebration.

This year will probably be a quiet one for me. Most of my friends are my age, and most are trying to get rid of things, not get more things. Many are so minimalist that I look like a massive consumer, and I expect to not give or get much, which is fine. There are dances on the calendar. Soon, I’ll stock my kitchen with food for the feast. Some drinking may be involved, but no drinking and driving means managing which dances to attend.

I am fortunate enough to be able to buy a few things, mostly consumables. I intend to buy myself a few things that I’ll appreciate and that I wouldn’t want anyone else to buy for me (a standing desk?, a new radio for the Jeep?, a new fridge?). I will surprise me because I don’t know what I’ll buy, and I don’t know how my stocks will perform.

I intend to give out hugs, wrap my arms around friends instead of paper around packages, and sit and sip and appreciate how good my life is. I like that. Besides, the cleanup is much easier, except for the feasts, but that’s good too. I can afford that.