The Christmas of Small Pleasures

By now you know that this holiday season was not among the best for the nation’s retailers. Although the final results are not yet in, an early projection from MasterCard Advisors, a unit of the credit card company, found that overall spending from Nov. 23 to Dec. 24, when adjusted for inflation, was essentially unchanged over last year -- a weak performance. In many ways, the holiday season is a good metaphor for 2007: the year of reduced expectations and small pleasures.

I keep thinking that despite 2007 being the Chinese Year of the Pig, the year will be remembered more for small indulgences than big ones. In terms of financial stories, the subprime issue grabbed pig-like headlines, but for investors, the housing recession and credit woes got everyone refocused on single-digit investment returns, which frankly, were greatly appreciated, especially considering the alternatives!

On the holiday front, it is obvious that there was no big, “must-have” item either for kids or adults. But somehow, we found delight in some tried and true items: new video games; Apple i-products; and perhaps the strangest category, women’s shoes. While I doubt that most people gave a pair of Jimmy Choo’s or Manolo Blahnik’s to their gal-pals, perhaps a quick, guilty indulgence made its way into our bargain-hunting holiday season.

In entertainment, there was no big movie that blew away expectations, but a few small ones were notable. I loved my friend Adrienne Shelly’s “Waitress” (she wrote and directed the movie before she was murdered in New York City in November, 2006) and if you want a real holiday treat this season, skip the tiresome formulaic pics like “National Treasure” and go directly to “Juno” a quirky film written by first-time writer Diablo Cody and directed Jason Reitman. Meanwhile, on the small screen, the simple pleasure of NBC’s “Friday Night Lights” and “30 Rock” can’t be beat.

But here is the absolute coolest thing about the year and Christmas of Small Pleasures: it hopefully made us all realize just how lucky we are to have so much. As thousands of servicemen and women are stationed overseas in harm’s way, I can’t help but think about the great fortune that we as American citizens enjoy. Next year is likely to be a big year, filled with election-year politics and plenty of vitriol. Try not to forget what a blessing it is to live in a society where we each are given the opportunity to express ourselves -- now that’s a great big gift that we receive each and every year, but rarely take time to appreciate.