As I type this, I'm listening to the soundtrack of "Hamilton" (good stuff!) and gazing out the window at a warm, sunny day. Snowless in December is not how I remember the last month of the year from decades past. (Insert a wistful, treehugger-ish sigh here.)
Anyway: The first of December. I think I can already hear the screeching of shopping cart wheels.
I read something the other day from Artifact Uprising that resonated with me: "What if we gave fewer gifts that mattered more?"
Well, the grammar is a bit clunky (almost fooling us into thinking they mean "don't give too many gifts that matter"), but you get the gist. Instead of just filling up your cart this gift-giving season, hurriedly checking names off your list in a mad dash to the holiday finish line, why not choose just a few gifts that actually mean something? Things that won't be discarded or forgotten. Things that are not just things, but more like...feelings.
What represents you that you can give? What is the one thing your loved ones would treasure?
Make no mistake: It won't make your gift-giving list any easier. You'll have to actually think about what you'd like to give, and "Time for Thinking" has lost a lot of its allure in this multi-tasking age.
But, if you're up to the challenge, here are a few posts on the topic of giving gifts in a more meaningful way (and yes, one of them was written by Yours Truly):
And finally, if you know me "In Real Life", you know that I cringe at anything sales-y, but I'd be a clueless dolt if I didn't mention that you could always give someone you love one of my photography e-courses. It doesn't take up any room on the kitchen counter and the skills learned will last for life. A brand-new online course for 2017 will be announced VERY soon, so if you're not yet on my "Writing with Light" subscriber list, do get yourself signed up lickety-split so you can get the first word and the discount. (Sign-up is below.)
Happy Weekend to you, friends--and may it be a mall-free one!
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© 2016 by Joy Sussman/JoyfullyGreen.com LLC. All rights reserved. All photos and text digitally fingerprinted and watermarked. Please do not use any photographs without asking me first for permission at [email protected] and then clearly linking back to this site with photo credits. Site licensed by Creative Commons.
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