What is the spirit of Christmas? It's in GIVING isn't it?
While we have been so adept at giving so much of the useless, we have become stingier and stingier with the important stuff: our time, our efforts, our involvement.
Who needs another sweater? Who needs another trinket? Why not do something special and new this year? Why not really put some thought into this year's Christmas gift giving?
I know that while my 95 year old grandmother appreciates any material gift I give her, she would trade it all in for another day spent with me. Taking her for a walk in her wheelchair, asking her specific questions that jot her memory about her youth, brushing her hair, listening to yet another CD of Romanian folk songs while I dance for her, now THAT would make my grandmother much happier than any jewelry or clothes I could buy her. That's just what I'm going to give her for Christmas this year.
My sister will love the picture I found going through my old albums. I am personalizing the frame to accentuate the mood of the picture. She will love it! It's a very special moment in her life and it will put a smile on her face every time she looks at it.
There are so many meaningful gifts we can give our loved ones. Gifts that say: you are so important to me! Look at how much thought I put into this! Instead of mindlessly picking up a gift at the mall, look at what I've created for you!
From baking a loaf of fresh bread, to framing a picture, or reading someone a book. This year, show that you really care: put away your credit cards and give this gift giving business a deep thought!
Let's put our heads together and come up with some real winners! If you've created something special for your loved one, please share it with us! Let's make this an exchange of wonderful ideas for meaningful gifts!
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Special Thanks go to Aaron Auxier who inspired me to write this.
Please check out the blog that started it all:
How "Black Friday" proved once again that people just don't get it.
So true!
Another suggestion if you just can't think of anything to do for someone- buy a nice piece of art from a local artist.
If you can't find any artists, get a gift certificate to a local restaurant or local busines.
Mirela- I do not shop on Black Friday. I don't give junk and don't buy junk. I look at anything I am attracted to buying and ask, how is this serving me. If it is a dust collector, I walk on by. If it serves no purpose but for a fleeting moment, I walk on by. Yes, time is the most valuable gift you can ever give. You can always make more money but you can not ever get back your time once it is spent.
I love these ideas. I enjoy baking for my family and creating photo books for them to enjoy more than simple material items.
You've hit the nail on the head for me. Being so busy I try not to forget that time is the language of love for so many. Around Christmas, I make a really concerted effort to unplug and spend extra time with my family and friends.
That is precisely why I have been spending countless hours in my shop over the holiday weekend making gifts for a select few. I did it last year as well, and hopefully am creating a few heirlooms as I make sawdust!
It is the thought and warmth of the gift that counts the most!
Hi Mirela, Thank you for the great post! One year, I bought a double frame and put a picture of my brother on one side and a picture of his wife on the other. The pictures were taken on a fishing trip we took together. The picture is still on their mantel 15 years later! Your sister is going to love your gift.
That picture of my brother is attached. He passed away this year, and we will be missing him very much this Christmas. In past years, I have made special gifts for my family, and have received many, too, but the time we spent together is the most priceless gift of all.
Mary, you just made me cry. It's a good thing I don't have any make up on.
What a touching story! Your brother is so full of life in this picture. This is so sad! I remember my first Christmas without Daddy. It just seemed so unfair: there were other people in the room way older than daddy and they were all alive. It's amazing where our minds wonder when we're hurting...
Yes, the time spent together is the most priceless gift of all!
The only good thing about it is that we wear the people we love in our hearts. They are with us always and we feel their presence when we need the comfort of their spirit.
Robert, when we make something, we imbibe it with our essence. The more time, thought and effort we spend on something, the more of our essence goes with it. Finding and paying for a gift, gives that thing minimum interaction with our person, thus, very little of us goes with it. Your heirlooms will be cherished long after the latest techno gadgets will become part of our Eco-system...
You are so very right...the thoughtful small gifts always mean so much more than expensive ones. I use to make all my gifts before I got into real estate, then I just never had the time. This year has been very slow so I will be back to the drawing board. Thank you for your inspiration!
Merry Christmas!
Debbie
You are so right Mirela - the little things mean the most. This year my daughter and I will be dragging out the old recipes and making cookies with my 95 year old Aunt. My Grandmother, my Mom and Aunt used to make literally 1,000's of cookies every year and distribute them around town to anyone who had done them a kindness during the year. My Aunt loves those memories and we always get to share special memories and a few tears.
Once again I'll be donning a Santa suit for our City. Every year we go around in old fire trucks to all the neighborhoods. We listen to the kiddies, hand out candy canes and pick up canned food and toy donations for the food kitchens. In this way I get to be the 'first' Santa for a lot of little ones and it is wonderful to see the magic in their eyes as they believe. I also borrow the costume and spend some time at a retirement home the next day. In this way I get to be the 'last' Santa for a lot of folks as well. The two groups are very similar in that they are both extremely appreciative and they both have the magic of belief in their eyes. That magic will last through an entire year of crappy gifts, political BS and stock market swings.
Gene: I think I need to figure out how to single out comments and make them into featured posts... Wow! What a comment! THANK YOU!
I agree. I am trying to teach my daughters the same thing. They know how much their pictures mean to their grandmothers !
Mirela,
This is a beautiful post, with a wonderful message! So many times we get caught up in the wonder and amazement of the holiday season, that we forget about what truely matters, FAMILY & FRIENDS! I can't help but think of our troops at this time of year, and how they will be spending their holiday! If you can do something special this year for your loved ones, also please extend that care for a soldier by visiting this special link: Send A Card To A Soldier Thanks for reminding us all to GIVE, Mirela, this post hopefully will reach many! I love the pictures you chose, very beautiful!
Mirela, thank you for your kind words. ' Didn't mean to make you cry, too!
Mirela, Bless you for such a heartfelt and lovely post. Moments together are priceless. I would give any of my tangible "things" for a moment with my mother. You've warmed my heart and I am so glad to hear of the joy you will be sharing with your grandmother.
God Bless and Protect you,
Deb
Deb, your beautiful comment has warmed my heart!
I just tucked my daughter in for the night. We had a nice dinner together and I laid in bed with her for a while talking. She is growing so fast and having already raised my son, I know just how quickly this time together will fly by. I am savoring the moments, and that's the only thing we can all do. Being aware of how special they are makes us more attentive to them.
Life goes by so fast. The only thing we are left with are the memories. If we are smart, we realize that while we are still IN these moments...
Because I was such a sickly child, LIFE has always seemed so temporal to me. I've always expected to die next year and I still do. I've never taken it for granted and I've always tried to fit it all in, just in case... No, I'm not comfortable with dying and leaving behind all the people I love, but at least I know that I've given it my all while I was alive...
Your mother is in your heart. If she could be here with you at Christmas, she would be. She misses you just as much as you miss her. Losing someone you love so much is so painful, but is it not harder to have never had such person and such love? We are the lucky ones...
Mary, I know you didn't and I didn't either; the tears just came because I felt the depth of your pain, celebrating your first Christmas without him. In Romania we used to set a place setting for the freshly deceased and even put wine in his glass and toast the glass. No, Romanians are not into denial, they just need some time to adjust to the loss... It worked for us. There was always a tear or two around the table, but then the smiles came and we'd tell great stories about the deceased and in that way, he was somehow still with us...
Debbie, you are welcome! It makes me happy to attract attention to something so important, yet so easy to ignore... The gifts they'll receive from you this year they'll keep forever.
Lauren: Good! They'll really "get it" when they'll BE the grandmothers...
Michelle: Bless you for reminding us of this! It is sad indeed that they are THERE amongst strangers, when their families here miss and worry about them so much. We should have a Christmas Communal Prayer Nationwide to bring them ALL home soon! I said it before and I'll say it again: If Mothers were in power, we'd fight our Wars with Paint guns...
Indeed, home made, home baked items show the love behind the gift!!!
Wonderful ideas that will fit all or our budgets. Very creative of you. Thanks for sharing.
Tina: I'm glad you like them!
Barbara-Jo & Bill: I think we all enjoy those better. All except for the fruitcake, although I was surprised one year. A client of mine made it for me and she made me promise that I'd try it, so I had to. OMG, that was THE best fruitcake I've ever tasted. It was a million times better than any other one, EVER. Mai Stevenson, if you ever want to make another one for me again, I promise you I'll eat it all!
This is a wonderful post. I don't know how I missed it but thank you for highlighting it.
The sentiments of giving meaningful gifts that are full of love, appreciation, and personality are very appropriate. I decided last year that I had enough "stuff," more than enough really so I let everyone know that I would much prefer dinner with someone I care about, or an afternoon spent together. It is the time that is so precious. Last year for my loved ones, I baked about 25-30 gift boxes and bags full of sweet breads and cookies and brownies and gave them as gifts. Everyone seemed really please with the gifts.
love so many of these ideas. It is so true that the gift that says something important to the person who receives it has much more meaning than a sweater or bracelet. - And if you or I have created it in some way through time or effort and in love-- it is more than precious it is a gift of self as well.
What a great blog, thanks for sharing it. Helps you realize how good we really have it.
Ella: Thank you for noticing! "It takes one to know one..."
Alexsandra: "time, effort and love"... those are the key words in this equation... Thank you for your valuable input!
Rich: My, how I'd love to get on that list! Yum, yum!
Mirela, you are so right on!!! I'm actually baking this year.....next year, I'm planning to be the grandma who bakes and mails cookies. That's what I used to look forward to as a kid. ;-)
This post always puts a smile on my face.
Terri: That sounds yummi!
Every year I have my two young sons make something for their grandparents for Christmas. Usually it's handpaintd ornament or "art" for them to hang. They always seem to love that gift more than the "things" I buy them!
Thanks for the timely reminder of the importance of giving from the heart.
Samantha: I'm glad you noticed the blog! It takes a certain person to appreciate this...