I feel like, as a society, we're losing touch with what holidays are supposed to be about and everything is about the material side of it. Holidays are increasingly becoming more commercialized, and companies are using every possible occasion as a way to make money, turning us into a materialistic society.

I doubt that a lot of us know what the Thanksgiving holiday was originally about, but I'm sure we all know it as "turkey day."

I've been noticing for a while that stores are structuring their advertising, and even designs around various holidays. The moment one holiday is over they focus on the next one, even if it's a few months ahead. For example, once Christmas is over stores start putting up signs and products for Valentine's Day. Stores now even sell cards for Halloween!?

Who gives cards on Halloween? If you do I would like to know, you can drop a comment below. Maybe I'm the one who's out of touch with the current trends.

All the advertisements and commercial hype for sure influences people. This in turn causes a lot of us to focus more on buying stuff for this holiday or that, rather than what the holiday is supposed to be about.

What's more is that companies are not satisfied with the holidays we already have and are finding ways to sell stuff by making up days for all types of goods.

Every year I hear about various food days and they seem to be increasing. From National Pie Day, to various ice cream, pizza and pasta days. We just missed National French Fried Shrimp Day, according to, Foodimentary.com. You can find many websites online that list these days for nearly every day of the year. There's even calendars now made specifically for these food days.

It's not necessarily a bad thing that retailers are making up holidays or using existing ones as an advertising tool, but I think it's important for us to know what these holidays are about. Gathering materials should not be our main focus.

Sure, giving and receiving gifts is a great thing but what's even better is the time families and friends get to spend with each other, and that shouldn't be sacrificed. That's not to mention that a lot of families these days don't even speak to each other on the dinner table, because everyone is focused on their phone. In some cases they will be texting each other on the table.

During this holiday season make the most out of your time with family, and don't let the consumerism get to you.