LA LA LA! The Christmas season is upon us. Woo Hoo!
Pulse check: How many of you are excited to enter into Christmas this year and how many of you are bracing for impact?
Christmas is an amazing time of year (in my opinion), but not for the typical hot-chocolate, cozy sweater, sparkly pressie, kind of way...
I find Christmas, more than any other time of year, brings out a massive cross-section of feelings in people. Excitement, stress, warm-fuzzies, anxiety, joy, sadness, reflection, even anger; all wrapped up in a shiny bow. Crazy right?!? But we still do it. Every year. Well, most of us.
Christmas is far more than the ceremony of giving and receiving gifts and yet, the acquisition of presents takes such an enormous amount of time, energy, and money. I feel like you or I would be hard pressed to find anyone who is not limited in one of those areas, so what are we to do?!?! Where do we find the joy?
C'mon friend, let's have a chatski.
GIFTS! How do you find the perfect gift? The answer is simple. Listen and observe. That's it. The holy grail of gift giving can be boiled down to the idea of being other centered.
In my experience, most people will tell you what's bothering them without a lot of prompting. You won't have to ask: "what do you want/need for Christmas?" if you're intentional about listening to their stories. Like:
"Ugh, I have the worst hair dryer, it dries out my hair to the point of breaking..."
*Consider your hair slick and gorgeous with the new hair dryer you're landing on Dec. 25th*
OR
"I've been looking everywhere for a set of vintage buttons for this coat I bought..."
*let the bids on eBay roll; vintage buttons ahoy*
The best gifts are when the receiver feels like they are known & understood. The execution of this principle has nothing to do with the amount of money spent.
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| This sucks. Insert spitty raspberry sound *here* |
If my sister has been searching high and low for a whatcha-ma-call-it and I find that oh so glorious whatcha-ma-call-it at a yard sale, spend a grand total of $3 and it MAKES her Christmas, than screw the other $47 I had left in my Christmas budget for her gift. Job done.
If you have a friend who is decidedly anti-stuff and resents mass accumulation, then why not give him/her the gift of an experience?
Or if you know a frazzled family who has little time to get into gear for Christmas, maybe offer to wrap all of their Christmas gifts as your gift to them. Giving someone your time totally invaluable.
And just in case you're new to the game here's a Pro-Tip:
If remembering brilliant gift ideas is an issue, my advice (and what I do) is keep an ongoing note in your phone. So when December rolls around you'll have a good place to start.
Happy shopping!
Xo.C
Pee ess: If you are buying for someone you don't know, or don't know well, buy something leather. A leather wallet, gloves, bag, belt etc., is always a win.
*Smoooooch*
- Tuesday, November 22, 2016
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