The holidays are coming up. They are often celebrated by shopping, an annual ritual of the Consumer Belief System in which who we are is defined by what we consume.

What is the Consumer Belief System? Unlike traditional belief systems which are intended to be guides for living, the Consumer Belief System is meant to support industrialization by encouraging the consumption of products. Industrialization is the shift towards an economy of mass-production, distribution, and consumption facilitated by centrally-controlled large organizations. Because mass-production results in more products than people actually need, advertising and marketing becomes crucial to the process. Consumers need to be made to want the products that are produced. It is the advertising and marketing industries that have spear-headed the development of the Consumer Belief System.

In recent years there have been some who, in reaction to consuming, choose to celebrate by not consuming – for example by celebrating Buy Nothing Day on the day after Thanksgiving in lieu of Black Friday. While this is a noble effort, it still focuses on the Consumer Belief System. I believe that it is stronger to define your self in the affirmative, therefore I promote the practice of creation. Practicing creation empowers one with skills and shifts one’s perspective of the world to one of potential and opportunity.

I have taught many people how to sew over the years. The first session in the beginning sewing class the students learned how to thread their sewing machine and do some basic stitches. Initially I viewed this as an unexciting class to learn technical aspects of sewing. I quickly discovered that it was life-changing few hours for my students. The homework from the first class was to make a square, either a pin cushion or a fabric weight. At the second class, students always made some of both. They were so excited to be able to sew something, that they were eager to make things even if they were just squares. One student excitedly shared a story about one of her favorite pillows. It was getting old and worn out. For months she had not been looking forward to the day when she would have to throw the pillow out. After the first class she returned home and instead of seeing all the thread-bare spots on the pillow she saw all the parts that were still good and started thinking about the things she could make from the good parts. This is what I call seeing life with a perspective of potential and opportunity.

It is also important to reclaim one’s creativity because products are not the only things to be industrialized – culture has been as well. Culture is the totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, attitudes, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. Over the past few decades massive consolidation and corporatization of the media, entertainment, and art sectors has resulted in a decrease of avenues for expression. Only a small, elite portion of society is able to promote their self-serving structure and ideology on a mass-scale.

I believe that your thoughts create your world. If you are not intentional about your thoughts, then you are living in a world created by someone else. I believe that everyone can be creative. Like everything else creativity needs to be cultivated and practiced. It’s best to start with something simple: making cards, bookmarks, ornaments, wreaths, potpourri. I encourage everyone to practice some creativity this holiday season – to cultivate oneself as well as to create personal gifts for loved ones.

Remember, your thoughts create your world. Make your a beautiful one.