Tis the season to get overwhelmed with sales and ads and feelings of lack and guilt?
Um, no.
Tis the season to take care of yourself, to spread joy in a way that feels good to you and to give gifts (or not) that add value instead of taking up space.
Yessssss!
I don’t offer or follow any hard and fast rules around gift giving other than doing less of it, more intentionally year over year.
For that reason, I’ve created the Un-Gift Guide, a little guide with non-stuff gift recommendations and permission to set your own boundaries and engage in gift giving and exchange in way that works for you. If you’d like to pull back on holiday gifts, start with 1:1 conversations with friends and family. It’s likely that many of them will be thrilled at the idea of exchanging one less gift.
The Un-Gift Guide: for the people you love (including you)
31 Days of Gifts: A little Advent calendar for your inbox through the month of December. We’ve had book clubs, corporate offices, community groups, churches and families spanning the globe participate together. Sign your friends and family up here. The first gift arrives December 1st but you can start anytime (even in December)! For $3.10, you can send and enjoy 31 gifts from recipes to music, crafts to wellness techniques and more. Learn more here.
Tiny (virtual) Book Club: Invite a friend to start a tiny book club with you. Gift them a Book of the Month Club membership and you can pick from a selection of books each month to read and chat about. If you prefer to listen to books, gift an Audible membership. The library is another great option to find your tiny book club books.
An hour a month: Make time for the people you love. My sister-in-law and I have been exchanging the gift of an hour a month for years. We schedule an hour long phone call once a month. Because it’s on our calendars, we make the time, set aside distractions and remember why we love each other so much.
Donate: Make a donation in the name of friends and family. I’m making donations this year in the name of the Be More with Less Community to:
One less Gift Certificate: If gift giving isn’t for you this year, and you want to give your friends and family permission to opt-out, send them this certificate for one less gift.
You might also enjoy the most meaningful gift you can give yourself right now and a few gift ideas we had on the Soul & Wit Podcast.
Don’t discount the gifts you can’t wrap. Gifts like gratitude, love, listening and acceptance keep us connected and supported. Let’s keep giving and receiving those gifts all year long.
Whatever you decide when it comes to giving gifts, this is my holiday wish for you: Less clutter, more twinkle lights. Less hustle bustle, more silent nights. Less judging, more accepting. Less wanting, more giving. Less stress, more magic. Less guilt, more peace. More love, always more love.
