As we roll rapidly into the gift-giving season, allow me to share with you a vintage story from December 2016 titled “Gifts.”
I love giving gifts. I guess that’s my “love language,” if you subscribe to that philosophy (remember, vintage “RHOC” with Vicki talking love languages…). It’s not a materialistic thing; it’s a symbolic gesture. I love giving gifts for no particular occasion, other than “I saw this and it made me think of you.” That said, my gift giving nature was tested this holiday season. I blame the combination of the upside-down surreal 2016 and the fact that we recently moved (as I write this, there are boxes and piles of I don’t know what to my right). I couldn’t get a handle on time and getting the mountain of tasks done these past few weeks. I always take on a lot, so that’s not the problem. But I think I undervalued the magnitude of moving and just how much mental effort and physical time it would take. Again, the curse of the achiever kicked it.
I got a handle on the gifts this year in three parts: one part obsessive organization, one part miracle, and one part best friend came down from Albany and finished all that was left undone. Far more quickly than they were selected, purchased, wrapped and arranged, the gifts were given and floated out of my existence (except for those given to the Bunny-daddy, of course). For those of us who take a certain kind of value in gift-giving, the exchange is the true gift. It’s the gesture of it all. It’s not the monetary value. It’s not given for a subsequent lauding. It’s the moment. It’s the look on the receiver’s face, often times a laugh, maybe even a happy tear or two. It’s the hug and/or the thank you card.
I love to give gifts because of the feeling in the moment. And I love to receive them for much the same reason. I don’t like clutter (again, it’s fairy difficult to stay focused writing this because there’s an utter mess to my right!) and sometimes gifts of a particular nature become clutter in my rigid world. But I will always love the gesture and the symbolism of gifting and that supersedes the clutter.
I have a lot of gifts, as in abilities. I use them, I share them and I proudly kick ass with them. I gave a lot of gifts over the past few days, although with the typical holiday whirlwind combined with 2016’s wrath, I don’t know if I let myself feel the moment enough! Again, putting pressure on myself… that’s a trait that I need to hone into a gift. And if history’s any teacher, I can make that happen.
Fans, friends, loves… I must go tackle the piles of stuff, some gifts and some not. Enjoy the magic of giving. Much love.