Fresh Ideas for Giving in the Holiday Season
If you’re interested in alternatives to commercial spending on gifts this year, I'd like to encourage you with a few ideas that there is still time to implement.
1. Make Gifts of Your Own Efforts
There are endless ways to create something that a loved one will cherish more than anything you could buy. You could put together a photo book, write a letter, bake a treat, craft a homemade ornament, or make something out of wood. Think about your skills and how you could translate them into a creative gift.
2. Give the Gift of a Shared Experience
In this age of abundance, our greatest scarcity is our attention. One of the most costly, and therefore meaningful, gifts you can give someone is an experience that the two of you can enjoy together or with a larger group. This could be anything from an out-of-town trip to a drink-tasting tour, a sporting event, or playing board games together.
3. Offer to Share Work
Perhaps surprisingly, one of the most enduring sources of happiness is not leisure, but doing hard things, especially for others and with others. Help a family member with some repairs, make a week of freezer meals for a friend, deliver cookies to a neighbor, or volunteer at a food bank as a group. Ask yourself—how can I be useful to those around me, and what might we do together?
4. Replace Spending With Time for Connection
Of all the gifts you can give someone, the very best is often just yourself. Perhaps you can be the one who organizes this year’s holiday get-together, or think of how to make it even more memorable. Show up wherever you go with the intention to connect, stay off your phone, and make memories with the people around you.
5. Create New Traditions With Loved Ones
Old traditions will always have value, but only alongside new traditions that allow each generation to add its own stories and values to the group. It’s the mix of old and new traditions together that is the ultimate sign of vitality in a family or group of friends, and is an incredible gift to bring to those you love. Designate yourself as one of the people who keep old traditions alive and spark ideas for new ones.
6. Offer Your Skills
Many of us have jobs or hobbies that involve specialized skills that others might find helpful. Instead of trading your time for money and buying a gift, why not give the gift of your expertise this season? My wife has often gifted friends with photography sessions, and I have offered to help others with their websites. You could teach someone how to make sourdough bread or offer to watch their kids while they go on a weekend trip.
7. Accept Help and Kindness
While this one doesn’t exactly fit with the others in the list, I thought it important enough to mention. In many individualistic societies, it’s common not to want to impose on others. One result is that we spend money to avoid asking for help. We’d rather pay someone to clean our home before the holidays or have a business cater a meal than ask others to pitch in. However, our unwillingness to impose upon others robs them of the chance to share work with you.
