How to Give a Present From Your Heart

Holy roasted chestnuts, it’s HOLIDAY TIME!  (Again.)  Can you even believe it’s lept up on us again so quick?  Ugh, I don’t think I’m ready for all the shopping, the wrapping, the partying, the bill-paying,  the egg nogging…scratch that!  I am totally ready for the egg nog.  Bring on that rum, it’s HOLIDAY TIME!

In all seriousness, I really felt like this year there had to be a way to celebrate all the festivities of the season and share my gratitude for all the wonderful people in my life without blowing up my bank account.  (Again.)  And there are so many amazing, beautiful people I’d love to bestow oodles of gifts on, I mean it’s really remarkable how many, I mean, I cannot comprehend how many gifts I have to buy and pay for and purchase and give…UGH!  How can you ever pay enough money to show your effusive love and adoration?!

The answer is:  YOU CAN’T.  Material objects, no matter how shiny, deftly wrapped, or expensive, will never quite reveal how much you love those special people in your life.  So screw the material world!  Give them something they’ll always love…YOU.

THE BEST PRESENT I EVER RECEIVED…was from my longtime love.  He went back through the years, and back through his email account, and found every email we had sent one another in the early months of our courtship.  At the time, we were in separate cities, and both working mind-gratingly dull desk jobs we didn’t like, so we sent a lot of emails; furthermore, we are both writers, and the written word became a very sexy & intimate tool in our blossoming love.  He formatted all the emails in a word document, and had them bound at the printer’s into a book.  What was special about the present was that he not only took the time to find all of our fluttery, flirty young words to one another, he read them all again, as I did too when I got the book and we giggled ourselves silly reliving our desperately sweet & nervous first months.  (He also named it “Volume 1,” knowing there would be many more years and words to come.)

THE BEST GIRLFRIENDS I COULD WANT…suggested a closet-cleaning gift swap.  No Secret Santa here, and no “$15″ limit on gift-giving either.  These lovely ladies in my life did a little Goodwill shopping within their own homes, and we gave one another items we never used, gently used, or never wore.  It’s sort of like a toy drive for adults.  One friend found a cocktail dress she had never worn, and gave it, wrapped with a bow, to another friend who looked amazing in red and could always use a new party dress.  Another brought in a bunch of spices she hadn’t touched in her spice rack and gave them all to our friend the cook.  Another just made personal mix cds for everyone.  You can either put all the stuff in the middle and pick out what you want, or just settle beforehand who gives to who.  The best part was we got to spend an evening, just us girls, drinking spiked spiced cider and eating gingerbread cookies and giggling.  And giving.

THE BEST PRESENT I EVER GAVE…was a song.  My elderly grandfather is a mandolin player, but he started his musical career as a teenager, plucking away at a ukelele.  I picked up my sister’s old ukelele, learned three chords, wrote a few verses and a chorus, and sang it to him on Christmas morning.  I also gave him a copy of the lyrics.  I gave him my time, my love, and my voice, which were all free, and were all he could want for a gift.  Don’t underestimate the power of music, ladies.

THE CHRISTMAS I’LL NEVER FORGET…was one in which I had to work until 8 PM on Christmas Eve.  I drove two hours to get to my family’s home, spent Christmas day with them, and drove back at 7 AM the next morning to get back to work. That 36 hour stretch of time was so delicately precious, and so truly wonderful.  The gift was just that we were together, even if it was short.  Just being together for a time is gift enough.  That’s why they call it “the present moment.”

THE GIFT I MOST ADMIRE…is a tradition.  A dear friend’s family are all Buddhist, and on Christmas Eve (a non-Buddhist holiday, I’ll have you remember) they form a group with several of their friends’ families, and go from house to house, eating and drinking, and sharing in a Buddhist blessing at each home for good health and prosperity in the coming year.  I love that the gift they give is not only friendship, but good wishes for one another.  They collectively come together to band their positive energy together for another round of seasons.

THE EASIEST GIFT TO GIVE…is yourself.  Don’t forget that the holiday time, no matter what religion or economic class you belong to, is about celebration.  Don’t stress out if this season is tighter financially than past years.  It doesn’t have to be about the presents we exchange.  This season, let’s make it about being together, being healthy, happy, and whole, and about celebrating the end of another fabulous, crazy, rollercoaster year.

And about egg nog.

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