The gift of giving

It's that time of year... again.

One of the highlights of my recent visit home to Thailand almost didn’t happen. I had a long list of to-do’s: get my Thai driver’s license renewed, look for essential items for my UK Christmas trip, exchange some GBP, top up various SIM cards, sort out banking stuff, and a myriad of other errands on top of spending time with parents and meeting up with friends.

It was a few days before the trip. My partner and I were having our regular morning chat on our pale blue couch while ingesting the morning’s brew, and the conversation meandered to the topic of Christmas presents. This was the beginning of November, and the first time the idea of presents had crossed my mind. Oh, should I buy presents for your parents? I asked. Yes, probably a good idea, just something small, he said. Great! I’ll get them from Thailand.

Onto the Thailand list went “Buy Christmas presents,” and that turned out to be one of the best parts of my trip.

“Buy Christmas presents”

One of the first things I did upon arriving home was pick my parents’ brains on what to buy. What should I get my partner’s mom and dad? I asked. And my mom and dad didn’t disappoint. They came up with great present ideas, which I promptly executed on.

That first week, I went on a present hunt in one of the Bangkok malls. I had a fabulous time bouncing from store to store, comparing fabrics, colours, and prices. Each time my eyes landed on an item that was just right for someone, my heart did a tiny skip. Yes, that’d be perfect for X.

By the end of three weeks, I was sorted. Each newly-acquired item was wrapped in beautiful green or red wrapping paper, labelled with the initial of the person it was intended for, then carefully tied up with a beautiful egg-white ribbon I “borrowed” from my mom’s assortment of beautiful things.

I laid those items neatly in my carry-on suitcase. They fit snugly. I smiled as I surveyed the festively-wrapped packages. I’m ready for Christmas.

The gift of giving

I’m a functional shopper. I don’t normally go shopping unless I’m looking for a specific item—a pair of comfortable flats, a bigger bag, new running shoes—or using it as an excuse to spend time with someone (I love going clothes shopping with my mom—she has the best eye for outfits that are not my style yet always miraculously work).

You wouldn’t normally find me casually browsing the stores. I consider it a bit of a pointless activity—why spend time looking at items you don’t have a need for? Plus, if you do end up impulse-buying something, then you’re spending money that you could have not spent. (Correction: I’d be spending money that I could have spent on coffee.)

But gift shopping, that’s an entirely different matter. I love going present hunting—be it purposely searching for a specific item or leisurely browsing until inspiration strikes.

I wonder why.

What makes shopping for others so pleasurable while shopping for myself brings no joy?

Maybe it’s the element of giving. The intention of gifting my purchase to others and hoping thereby to bring them joy imbues the act of shopping with a purpose more worthy than “flats that don’t inflict pain” or “running shoes with no holes.”

Maybe shopping needs to have a higher purpose for me to be enjoyable. Maybe it’s some other reason that I’m failing to see. Whatever it is, the outcome is that I rarely go shopping unless it’s Christmas time, which means more money to spend on coffee, which suits me just fine.

What do you think?

It’s only a few days until Christmas. If you celebrate it, I hope you’ve got all your presents wrapped and neatly arranged under the Christmas tree. Last-minute Christmas shopping is no fun!

I’ve got two questions for you today:

Do you find joy in gift shopping? If so, what do you think is the reason?

Send a reply, leave a comment, share this with someone who’s great at picking presents.

Until next Friday… Stay thoughtful,

And Merry Christmas!

Val

---

Photo by Matthias Cooper on Unsplash