The year that a few friends and I started the Hundred Dollar Holiday program, several business-page columnists leveled the G-word—Grinch—at us because we were asking our families and our friends to limit their holiday spending to a hundred dollars.

So it was with some trepidation that I reread my daughter's copy of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. As we all know, at the end of the story Whoville celebrates Christmas even without their presents and trees.

But Dr. Seuss' message went deeper for me. The more we progressed on our campaign the more we came to understand why people were responding. It wasn't because we wanted a simpler Christmas at all. It was because we wanted a more joyous Christmas.

Christmas had become something to endure at least as much as something to enjoy. Instead of an island of peace, it was an island of bustle. The people we talked to wanted more out of Christmas: more music, more companionship, more contemplation, more time outdoors, more love. And they realized that to get it, they needed less of some other things: not so many gifts, not so many parties, not so much hustle.