Black Friday: To Shop or Not To Shop

I never really get a chance to take advantage of the Black Friday deals that come around once a year. I'm either at work or somehow it falls on a day that my bank account is blown out by other expenses. This year, that won't be the case, so I'm trying to decide if I want to join the rest of America in the race to the super deals. I had to think about this logically to weigh some of the pros and cons of me going, keeping in mind my personal preferences regarding shopping and people. So here's what I came up with:

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Pros

• Spend less on select Christmas gifts I was already planning on buying anyways. Prices will be cut exponentially, I'm sure over fifty percent on a lot of items. 
• Only comes around once a year, meaning this would be the perfect opportunity to take advantage of. 
• Might find other super markdown items that I hadn't planned on purchasing.
• I will be able to buy more gifts with the money I have saved.
• I know I shouldn't, but I'm sure I will find something for myself that I just cannot pass up.
• Get to finally experience the rush and energy of super shopping with super savings.

Cons

• Tons and tons and tons of people everywhere in the stores, taking up carts, taking up space, standing in long lines and fighting over television sets just a few inches bigger than the one they got last year. 
• Being stampeded to death is a HUGE fear of mine. Which is the reason why I fear being in huge crowds like the ones you see at Woodstock or just really big open area outdoor situations. (If one person freaks, the whole herd morphs into chaos which equals me being flattened and immediately in the presence of the Lord, which is cool...but I really didn't want to die in that manner. I figured I would depart via assassination.)
• Having to wake up super early or leave Thanksgiving dinner to stand in line for countless hours to be the among the first to get the best deals. 
• Fighting, running, defending, cursing, arguing, maybe some cannibals.
• PARKING.... 

 Black Friday Camping at Best Buy: galleryhip.com

The Verdict

I won't be attending Black Friday this year. I might be the one person who would pay to stay away from mass hysteria. There have been times when I have shopped at Marc's (yea I actually was able to make it to the ATM to get cash) and I've spent at least an hour in there. I remember walking over to the check out lanes, sizing up my options, and deciding that the lane in front of me was the best option. I had a full cart and I stood and stood and stood and there was so much chaos around me and the cashier had a problem which held up the line tremendously. 

Black Friday in Puerto Rico: latinorebels.com

So I switched lines, and then the line I moved from started to move and the one I jumped in now had a problem. It was so traumatic for me that I tried calling my sister for some moral support and she didn't answer, so I just left the cart and ran out to the car breathing hard about to lose my mind in anxiety. It was horrible! The same thing happened in the stupid Super Walmart. A full cart was abandoned after two hours of shopping and a equally long panic attack. So I might stay home and shop some cyber deals. Or maybe I should check out the festivities so I can get some of my own Black Friday photography done!

lifeisstory.com

Holiday Spirit

On the topic of preparing for the Christmas season, I have a quick story about a woman I spoke with a couple weeks ago. I decorate and design stuff for a living and the other day as I was stringing up Christmas lights at my store when a customer walks up to me and says "Isn't it a little early for that?" Followed by an offended scoff. This is my third Christmas decorating and customers usually come up to me in anger anytime they see anything Christmas related. It's so odd to me why they are so upset. I usually smile politely or chuckle just to get them to walk away but this time I had to say "Why does Christmas make you so upset?" She looked back at me in a small amount of surprise and responded "Well, it's just that I don't have any money." 

truthdig.com

And there we have it folks. Christmas is about money! And if you don't have any money, then Christmas sucks! I get it now. I understand why people want to stone me off my ladder every year. They hate anything that reminds them of what they can't have. To be fair, I can't be too disgusted in this type of thinking, as it is the world around us that saturates our minds. Most people are just victims to years of thought herding. I pray every person who has scoffed at the idea of the Christmas season can enjoy a warm evening in their homes, sipping cocoa or egg nog, listen to some jazzy Charlie Brown, and just relax into the warmth and joy of the season while remembering that this entire day at one point revolved around the birth of Jesus Christ, the savior to all...Yea. 

Z

Finding Sanctuary and Creating Happiness

There are a lot of things I want out of life. Including the freedom from dealing with backwards hierarchies, politics and the power to control the parts of my own existence that are within my grasps. It takes a lot of patience dealing with situations that you know you have no business being in, but sometimes, life puts you in places that only set you up for bigger things.

Since frustration breeds motivation, you finally decide to define your goals in life, make a plan, and begin executing each step towards your dreams. Since every seed takes time to grow, it is important that we set ourselves up to be happy during the wait. I realized that sanctuary is necessary for any person to maintain sanity and peace. Sanctuary is a place you can create specifically tailored just for you.

Sanctuary, as I observed from A Series of Unfortunate Events, should be accessible to you no matter what situation you are in. It can be as small or as large as it needs to be. I started to think about some other sanctuaries I've seen. For example, my dad's sanctuary consists of a decently sized TV, football games, a comfortable chair and air conditioning. Even on the smallest level, if he has just a radio to listen to a baseball game and a view of nature (whether it be the trees or the lake) he can find his peace.

My dad, Sekou Malik, at one of his favorite places in Lake Erie. 

My grandmother's sanctuary seems to be surrounded with lots of flourishing plants, flowers and bright colors. I did a full photography spread on her beautiful garden, and the first photo in this post is actually from her garden as well as is the following photo. Something about the beautiful colors gives her peace, and the fact that when my mother was alive, she was the one that bought all of the flowers that make up this garden. Her true sanctuary rests in her big comfortable bed reading the Word of God, which gives an unparalleled amount of peace to those who seek it.

My usual sanctuary is when I am in the bathtub. I light candles or incense. I have a whole set up which truly gives me great joy and relaxation. I have been making plans to expand my sanctuary to my bedroom, giving it a full redesign making it the perfect getaway. My own wonderland. I also love to incorporate teas and literature into my atmosphere. On the most basic level, I am happy reading with dim lighting and candles. I'm all about the lighting. It calms me and soothes my spirit. I also find great peace looking out my window to see blue skies and bright green treetops.

Why am I doing all of this? Because without the small things that give me joy on a daily basis, I will easily get caught up gazing into the future waiting for the harvest of all my work. Have you ever tried sitting and watching a plant grow? I would assume it's quite agonizing. We mustn't forget to live in the present while striving for the future. I've realized the more ambitious you are, the more your world revolves around the future and not the here and now.

My mother died a few years ago at the age of 46. She was in the middle of a home renovation when she passed out, never to be the same again. She had plans after plans made and ready to go. As accomplished as she was at the time, there was always more to achieve. There will always be more to accomplish as we humans are plagued with a rabbit hole that keeps our race thrusting forward into existence. Life is truly about balance. Once you learn the art of balance, you will have mastered your universe. Find your sanctuary. Create your happiness today, and continue pushing towards tomorrow.

Aziza