Receiving gifts can be just as difficult. We all hate to fake emotion but sometimes gifts are actually apologies for gifts or what can happen is that you get a great gift but it doesn't get the reaction out of you that the giver expects and wants. In that case it is the fault of the giver because when giving you should have no expectations but most people are not Emersonian givers.
The best gift that I have given and received from my experience is love. Because there are many gifts that come from love. The small ones tend to be the best. The best gifts are the ones that you cannot hold, except for in your memory; the ones that make you smile and you can't stop; the ones that create a genuine connection between two people. Those gifts are hard to find but you must hold on to them tightly when you receive them and must give them when you are at a time and place where you are capable.
2 comments:
I completely agree with your idea of obligation due to set gift-giving times. I find difficulty in giving gifts when society requires me to do so. Though I'd much rather give gifts spontaneously, if I ignored societal law, most likely society would have its way of effectively pounding me into the ground. As much as we would like to avoid societal law, breaking one often seems to invoke a connotation of rudeness and malevolent character.
The act of receiving gifts is quite honestly the bane of my existence. Either I don't show enough excitement or too much. Whatever I do, it is false. But I am not acting falsely out of horrible intentions, it is due to true surprise and gratitude that I find myself unable to respond correctly.
I also believe that love is the highest form of a gift. Love can manifest itself in so many ways that most acts of love can be considered gifts. The fleeting memories of gifts of love are sweeter and more precious than anything money can buy simply because there is no equivalent. Or if there was some sort of material equivalent, it would be so beyond the scope of any wallet that not even all the world's fortunes could not purchase it. The bonds between people should be viewed and treated as gifts of love because it is due to a mutual love for the other's nature that such a relationship can exist. That, in and of itself, should be regarded as a miracle, the meeting between two of 6.8 billion people that inhabit this earth.
Your thoughts on gifts have given me new insight on what it is to give a gift and has redefined my definition of giving a gift. I don't think I ever realized before that the strain on which society places on me to give gifts at certain times has restricted my gift giving or gift receiving abilities.
Perhaps this is why I too have always had problems thinking of giving gifts to give. When I give a gift, I always try to give it from the heart since this is the way in which I have always been taught to give a gift. I don't think I ever realized before that the time and place in which I was being forced to give a gift had a serious impact on the success of the gift. As I reflect now, I realize that the gifts that I had given out of spontaneity have always received better results. Thanks for your insight!
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