I love to give. I don't so much love to give for Christmas. I think it has something to do with being a natural contrarian. I like to keep the majority in check. So, each year comes this annual festival of giving and it's the time of year when I feel least like presenting somebody close with something of worth. Part of the appeal of a gift is in its surprise. I love surprising people.
After some consideration I came up with the following procedure for Christmas giving: Don't give much, but mean what you give. That's part one. I don't go out and buy expensive stuff at Christmas. A) I don't have money (but that's somewhat a lie... I have make-believe loan money that will actually pay for things), but more importantly B) I don't feel it's warranted. My natural counter-cultural-ness says that I should be giving a real gift this season--not just something expected by people close to me. What I should really be giving is myself.
This involves a very simple philosophy for me: Total the money I give in buying presents and give half of that amount away completely to organizations and people I do not know. The funny thing is that I feel better about that gift than I do about the gifts I give to friends/family every time. Never fails.
I don't give much. I'm not ashamed about that. Giving is a sea-change in how we live, not a once-a-year happening. So, if you don't get me anything don't worry; I'd rather you give it away anyway.
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