Hello Bella!
It’s the beginning of November, and fall is in full swing, which means… the 2022 holiday season is right around the corner. But before jumping online or driving to the mall to purchase gifts for your friends and family, allow us to share some food for thought with you.
It’s time to rethink gift-giving.
Honestly, do most of us really need another coffee mug, mini-gadget, or holiday sweater? Probably not. This year, we would love for you to consider giving the gift of something much more thoughtful and precious, like time or highly personalized and/or healthful gifts.
When giving the gift of quality time, you open up the opportunity to create lifelong memories. When giving someone you love a highly personable gift, you show them that you hear and see them fully. When giving the gift of something healthful to someone you love, it shows you want the best for them and you want them to feel their best. This holiday season, don’t contribute to unnecessary consumerism by frantically buying gifts to give during one day at the end of the year.
Instead, take some time, gather your thoughts, and gift the beautiful souls in your life something truly extraordinary during the weeks leading up to the holidays you celebrate.
Give The Gift of Time
Time is easily the most precious resource known to man, and with that in mind, giving the gift of time is automatically an amazing gift. Now, this can come in a multitude of ways. For example, you can give the gift of quality time, as we stated earlier. Another way to give the gift of time is to do something for someone you love, like running an errand or handling a chore. This way, you can free up some time in their lives that they get to spend however they please. This could be by cooking someone a meal and dropping it by their house during one of their busy workdays, or by putting on your personal chef hat and cooking for them while they unwind as a way to spend quality time together.
Time, Quality Time, and Highly Personable Gift Ideas
Gather with friends and family: Host a family meal together (maybe a potluck) with no motive except to spend time and great food with each other.
Pro-tip: ask everyone to place their cellphones in a drawer or bowl to encourage full presence. Remember to put them on silent as well to avoid interruption.
Run errands for someone: Taking care of a task for someone might not feel like a big deal on the surface, but once you really think about it, you’ll probably realize just how helpful and kind it really is. Especially on those days spent running all over town when all you want to do is go home and relax… we’ve all had them. Taking care of someone else’s errand is a great, simple way to give the gift of time to someone in your life that needs it.
Make something: Get creative and make something from the heart for someone you love, and this could be anything! Seriously, we mean it when we say to get creative. Need some help getting that creative juice flowing? Don’t worry, we’ve thought up a couple of ideas for you.
Dish out a destination dessert. Have a foodie friend with a well-traveled palette? Make them their all-time favorite dessert from a place they visited and loved. Maybe a classic pavlova for your kiwi-connoisseur?
Craft a kind poem. Burn everything you bake? Spare yourself the stress and try your hand at writing. Express your love and gratitude with the timeless gift of poetry.
Now, don’t worry if you’re no Nadiya Hussain or Edgar Allen Poe, any and all gifts from the heart can do a much better job at saying, “I love and care about you” than another pair of fuzzy socks from Target can. When you take the time to handcraft a personal gift for someone, they’ll both see and feel the effort you put in. This is a kind and heartwarming way to show your affection and appreciation for the loved ones in your life.