On Gifts and Giving

I like Christmas. Who doesn’t, really? (Well maybe not everyone…) What I don’t like about Christmas is this forced shopping. I’m supposed to get people things, and they’re supposed to get me things. We’re all supposed to go out and aimlessly shop looking for something to get each other because that’s “what we’re supposed to do.” I’m tired of it.

I’m not tired of receiving gifts, nor am I tired of giving them. I’m tired of this societal construct that says we can only do it this once a year. I want to live in a world where I, at any time I feel like, can see something that would be perfect for a friend, a family member, a significant other, and purchase it for them right then and there.

I don’t want to have to buy it and hold it for Christmas or a birthday. I don’t want to avoid thinking about doing nice things for others until the last month of the year. Society won’t let me though.

The reason Christmas works, for better or for worse, is that it’s democratic. I get you a gift because you’re getting me one, and vice versa. If we break away from that construct, then suddenly people start keeping score. “But I didn’t get you anything!” would be a cry you’d hear a lot in my year-long open gifting regime. My answer? “So?” I feel like, as nice as it sounds, this wouldn’t work either. Suddenly there would be a need to reciprocate on the receiver’s part, and then we’d be back at square one: getting something for someone because you feel like you have to, rather than feeling like you want to.

And that’s what it comes down to, really. This feeling that it’s required. This feeling that we’re giving each other things not because we like each other, not because we’ve found things that are perfect for each other—but because everybody else is doing it.

I know it won’t ever work, but that’s my Christmas wish.