Since we are in the Season of Holidays--with many different groups celebrating different holidays--the giving of gifts is a big part of the Season and celebration.
In the past few years, I have rarely purchased any gifts to give. As an artist, I often have many pieces that are ready to find a new home and I have frequently given away items I have made to those I care about as gifts. There is a greater sense of intimacy and care in giving a homemade gift than there is with one purchased. I take great care in trying to choose the right colors, the right designs, the right style for those to whom I give gifts. I want them to use and enjoy the items they receive and I hope that the care I've taken in choosing their gift somehow conveys to them how much they mean to me.
It is always sad when a gift is given but not fully received. I knew one woman who would take items people had given that she didn't like and she would toss them away or take them to a thrift store. She was careless with the gifts people gave. If those who gave them had ever found out what she did, I am certain she would have been offered no more gifts by those people. She claimed she was always receiving the gifts, but I don't believe that just because she took the gifts meant that she received the gift. She was so careless about what she did with the items given to her--and I know in several instances, the gifts given were done so at some hardship financially to the giver--but because they (perhaps in error) held this woman in high esteem, they wanted to honor her.
To receive a gift is something that is not always easy for people--especially if they feel they are very independent or have been taught to do things for themselves. To receive a gift for some people is a challenge because they do not feel worthy. I recently worked with a person who had such serious self-worth issues that a complement of any sort could not even be received and would cause floods of tears and eventually were rejected completely because this person felt so worthless they could not receive--never mind offering any other types of gifts which were rejected out of hand.
The act of giving a gift and receiving is a precious part of prosperous living and thriving. We must be both willing to accept gifts given and to be a good steward with those gifts, as well as to be willing to give of our gifts to others. It is not unlike an electrical circuitry--the cycle has to be completed in order for truly prosperous consciousness to exist.Today I am working on some of the gifts that I will be giving and am mindful as I make them of the love and joy that the person receiving them has given to me in my life already. I try to infuse my gratitude and love for them into the creation process, hoping that upon receiving the gifts, they will sense and know how much they are loved and valued by me.
(c) 2021 SZing, Spiritual Creator. All Rights Reserved. Photographs courtesy of Pixabay.
