If you give your wife a gift on your first anniversary, that’s already a fifty percent assurance that you’d be celebrating your second anniversary. Try to forget about this, and you’d probably find yourself outside the house the next day. Some people may find presents to be mere icing on the cake. But in reality, can you really imagine a cake without some sweet icing on?
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May it be birthday, wedding anniversary, graduation, name any occasion, it already is an unspoken rule that you should buy a present, no matter how big or small, and give it to the celebrant to serve as a token for that memorable day.
Gifts given on a specific occasion is sweet. But don’t you think a gift-for-no-occasion is way, way sweeter?
Now I’m giving you the idea. And I guess you should try this at least once- with your parents, a friend, that special someone, or if you are bold enough, maybe a total stranger (without appearing too creepy, of course). Here are some tips on how to capture that gift-for-no-occasion moment.
1. First, go around a lot. Maybe you can go downtown, visit a store you have never been into or drop by some weekend markets or fairs. Check out stuff that captures your eyes, even the ones that you won’t even bother looking at on ordinary days. These places are venues where you can have great finds- collector items, valuable ones sold at lower prices, personalized stuff, those things, you know. So better spend some time on these places.
2. If you ever took hold or set eyes at a specific item and someone comes to mind, if you can afford of course, buy that item for them. I’m sure you have experience this moment a couple of times already. And as though it’s magic, I am sure that that person who reminds you of the item would appreciate you buying that for them.
3. Write a note. A simple “thank you”, “you’re doing great”, or even just a “smile” written on a tiny card by your own personal handwriting can do wonders. You see, we have arrived at a time in history where everything just became digital that people seemed to forget how to write cards and would even be tempted at times to type what they have to say and print them on the cards they’re giving out.
4. Give the gift personally. Tell them that there’s no specific occasion, you just wanted them to be happy on that very day. To add more spice on this one, pay these special people an unannounced visit and you would even realize how your unanticipated presence becomes more appreciated than the tiny gift you brought with you
5. Never expect to get anything in return. Yes, I guess this is the most important and most self-explanatory part.
Gifts are not the sole ways through which we can express gratitude, affection, or remorse, yes remorse, for that matter. Surely, we can deliver kind words, a hug, cook a good meal, sing, dance, or record a video for the people we value. As they put it, it’s the thought that really counts. But you know, human beings as we are, there is this tiny part in our hearts that long for that moment when we receive a box, wrapped in a lovely wrapper, with a ribbon or a note, and handed by someone we love. Just like little kids on their fifth birthday or during the holidays, our brain and our hands get excited with the fact that we’ll be tearing this wrapper and find something we’ve always wanted to have inside the present given.
Be the sweetest. Give a gift-for-no-occasion.
The writer loves gift giving but claims that she’s gets excited with the receiving part even more. Check out more of her ideas on personalized gifts at essayjedi.com.
By Evelyn Golston
