Brain Food #529
What makes a good gift
Thoughts of the day
The countdown to December 25th has begun, and to many, this signifies the start of the season of gift-buying, and gift-exchanging.
Despite the heart-warming connotations, many of us still freeze at the thought of buying a gift. How does one choose wisely? How can we show that we truly know the other person? Surely not through a pair of socks? What makes a good gift? And, when receiving a gift, should it be perceived as an act of love and kindness, or one of understanding?
Perhaps, at such moments, it is worth looking back on times when we received gifts we found precious. Often, those gifts were not the ones that were immediately valuable, but those that gained their value over time. An ideal gift may indeed be the type that keeps on giving.
But a good gift is, ultimately, only defined so in how it is received. The act of gift-giving is a largely altruistic one, as long as we give while expecting nothing in return. But perhaps it should be even more selfless on the receiving side: when we receive with gratitude for the pains that someone has gone through to get us something that we did not have to expect.
It is worth stopping to think of the meaningful gifts we have received in our lives. Here are some surprising interpretations of what makes a good gift:
Honesty
“The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof, shit detector. This is the writer's radar and all great writers have had it.”
— Ernest Hemingway
Kindness
“Then learnedst thou," interrupted Zarathustra, "how much harder it is to give properly than to take properly, and that bestowing well is an ART - the last, subtlest master-art of kindness.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche
Darkness
“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.”
― Mary Oliver
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