If you were asked to describe the ideal holiday season, what would you say?

Perhaps you would include the company of loved ones, good food, fun and relaxation… maybe an inch or two of snow. Aiming higher in our holiday daydreams, we might even envision a feeling of tranquility and peace blanketing our homes, our community, the wide world.

Whatever you imagined, contrast it now with the typical mid-December scene at the mall, where countless holiday shoppers weave between traffic, oscillating between oppressed weariness and panic, as they search for non-existent parking spaces and that perfect gift that says “I had no earthly idea what to get you, but chose this particular item because, um, it is shiny and appears to cost what I could reasonably be expected to spend.”

Not so lofty, is it? It seems simple, but the holidays, meant to be a time of peace, reflection, and celebration, too often exhaust rather than uplift us. If you sometimes feel trapped by the shopping, spending, crass displays, and frenzied preparations, you aren’t alone. Our national surveys consistently show that Americans feel put upon by the commercialization of the season and want more of what matters… not just more stuff.

Our 2005 poll shows that more than three out of five Americans (62%) say they are planning to or considering giving family members gifts such as a savings bond or a piggy bank this year. Over three quarters surveyed in our 2002 holiday poll expressed a desire for a more simplified holiday. Of course, it's not just during the holidays that we have feel the crunch on time and priorities - our 2003 summer survey found 83 percent of Americans longing for more time with family. And our 2004 poll on the state of the American Dream found Americans worried that excessive materialism is having serious consequences for our children, for society, and for the environment.

But take heart. You aren’t alone and you don't have to rack up credit card debt while getting sucked into the vortex of the season's commercialism. Like Charlie Brown, you can shun the ostentatious displays and pink aluminum trees in favor of a little more meaning. This holiday season, treat yourself to some tranquility, togetherness, and renewal… or whatever matters most to you.

 What’s your vision of a perfect holiday? What about your most humorously harried holiday experience? Share it with the New Dream Community!

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