Wisdom for the Spiritually Bankrupt

I should start by saying that the holidays depress the hell out of me. Ever since I was old enough to get excited for Christmas (i.e. to unwrap barbies at 5 am), I was consumed by a terrible sense of emptiness the second it was all over; it seemed so unfair that "the most wonderful time of the year" should soon be buried under a pile of dirty snow.This time of year, if not associated with holiday cheer and peace on earth (or consumer glut and avoidance of family members, but that's a whole nother story), is cold and dark and a reminder that things die. Now, its not so much that the presents end, but that the cold end of the year is a reminder that things change; the ignorance of childhood is extinguished by fears both existential and universal. People evolve, and even families separate and move on after arguing about politics while drunk. (Right now my family is downstairs decorating the tree.)
So last night, after watching The Muppets Family Christmas (an absolute classic that nevertheless now seems more symbolic of the past than indicative of anything still alive and real) I was filled with longing for a sense of universal truth; if the appeal of the Muppets fades, what is real? I turned to a book I recently purchased for two bucks, "Spiritual Sayings of Kahlil Gibran." Like many a soulless product of contemporary America, I've begun to grow tired of irony, nihilism and deconstructionism and would like to believe in a little something other than the fact that there is nothing to believe in.
The introduction claims that Mr. Gibran is compared to Rodin and William Blake, and often called the Dante of the 20th century; he was born in Lebanon and died in 1931.
Some of his wisdom includes:
"I prefer to be a dreamer among the humblest, with visions to be realized, than lord among those without dreams and desires."
"No lower can a man descend than to interpret his dreams into gold and silver."
"If reward is the goal of religion, if patriotism serves self-interest, and if education is pursued for advancement, than I would prefer to be a non-believer, a non-patriot and a humbly ignorant man."
"The fear of hell is hell itself, and the longing for paradise is paradise itself."

etc. It all sounds good to me; modern confines of success are irrelevant to the truth, nirvana is real for those who believe in it, and each person has the moral imperative toward self-realization.
My question is this: is this vein of "spirituality" or any other, for that matter, even relevant anymore? Has our ability for transcendence been bulldozed for a strip-mall? Or is it possible to work our way around the modern soul-suckers to uncover the path to truth and beauty?
The end of the year always encourages self-reflection; nothing marks the end of something like the old flipping of the calendar. And in the age of myopic-self concern, this often means empty promises we make to ourselves over quitting smoking or dropping pounds. This year, why don't we all stop hating ourselves for our love handles and bad habits, and try find something meaningful outside of our selves? If we all stopped looking for self-realization at 20% off, and instead found a connection to the world, we might find truth in Kahlil's belief that "love is a trembling happiness."