Dec 18 2008
Give the Gift of Actually Caring
The Good | When Being Acknowledged Makes You Feel More Alive
With just a few days left before Christmas, I’m going to dish out my ultra-effective super-duper Tip of Ultimate Power when it comes to gift-giving:
Listen.
I’ve run into people that seem impossible to shop for. They might tell me they hate getting presents - for the pressure involved, if it’s public, or any number of reasons - or perhaps they’re rich, intelligent, creative, etc. and you just assume your present will suck in their eyes, or that they already have six of what you’re thinking about getting for them. Chances are these people will come out with “Y’know, everyone says I’m so hard to shop for, but I want that!” and let it float out into the ether, but you’ll be around.
If not, I’ve had people that I haven’t talked to on the phone for months or even years, and then in our conversation of catching-up they’ve dropped hints about their current lifestyle, down to activities and what they eat. That’s all fodder!
My mother happened to say she’d like to see a white Christmas, again, since we more or less live in the tropics. CVS has a Christmas tree skirt, essentially a round blanket of fake “snow” (including “ice crystals” of pearled oily-looking plastic) and it makes a wonderful backdrop for the equally small present she actually requested.
In another example, a friend of mine is a successful businesswoman. Being an artist, and at school a craftsperson, I designed a trendy carrying case for files and folders that also can protect a laptop in the inclement whether she usually has to live with. It was built from Elmer’s glue and giant scrap strips of canvas.
It can’t be pulled apart with all your might - astoundingly - so it’s up to the task and then I inked the front with a portrait of a character from one of the new novels she’s reading. When I’d told her about my interest in cooking she shared with me that she was into hot sauces, so I bought a couple of small “airplane bottles” and stuck those inside the case as stocking stuffers.
This took less than two hours to make/acquire, and it was all very affordable. I already know the friend gift was a huge success, and past experience tells me my mother’s will go over well.
Just keep your ears open and you can make actual magic happen. How often do you take that opportunity?
