Purposeful gifting

Pseudocyesis is a medical condition experienced by women who believe they are expecting a child. The women experience majority if not all the symptoms akin to expectant women. For some reason this fact fascinated me. I mean, I could walk around experiencing everything a pregnant woman experiences yet all I have in me is gas!!!! It is only laughable if it was a pregnancy scare but I can’t imagine how damaging it is for an euphoric woman.

For the past couple of months I have been spotting possible gift items that someone would love, myself included. Maybe it is the thought of receiving a gift that engulfed me till the thought manifests itself in random things I spot. I would literally gift a stranger in my mind or later pair up a possible gift item I spotted to a friend. The other day I talked some girl into buying a jumpsuit I thought would look good on her and we’d just met. She actually got it and I really hope she does not regret that decision.

My favourite pass time as I wait for people i’m meeting in town is window shopping at MRP or visiting the cards section in Supermarkets. I once passed by Nakumatt to asses what remains of it during that period where vast outlets were closing. After getting my hands dusty from the shelves and nearly giving up, I unearthed a cute magnetic card with a picture slot that now graces my mum’s fridge and is the envy of her friends. Some other time still from Nakumatt, I picked a unique graduation card at an affordable price that I later resold to a friend who was in need of one on short notice. This is slowly developing into a habit but one needs to be really savvy.

Gifting has become rare or rather an act reserved for certain people. On valentines, apparently only someone you are seriously dating is the one to gift you. Even the ones you thought are heading somewhere wash their hands off in the name of we haven’t defined the relationship yet. Worse off is birthdays. Back when we were kids it was understandable why gifts only came from parents as they were the ones we perceived to have the means but this I have come to understand that the shying off gifting is an excuse for our selfishness.

Bare minimum you only have to gift once a year. This does not necessarily mean on birthdays. You can choose to be unique and spread your gifting. Give a friend a gift during Mashujaa day just to thank them for being the Shujaa in your life. Another can get one during New Years, just to grace his/ her Njanuary with a smile or pick one of those myriad International days. This kind gesture goes a really long way. Whoever said it is the thought that counts never told us how anyone would know of our thought if we do not manifest it. ( Just thinking out loud)

Colleen hoover in two of her books writes about unique gifting in passing. There is a character called Lily who receives anonymous seeds as gifts. The package comes with instructions on how to tender for the seedlings till maturity and only then would she know what she was planting. This I would really love if gardening was my thing. In another book, a certain character by the name Merit buys herself trophies on her awful days. The habit begins when her boyfriend dumps her right when she thinks they are having a moment. The first thing her eyes settles on after the words land on her ears is the boyfriend’s District Championship football trophy which she takes with her on her way out. Her thinking is; if he can ruin such a special moment for her she should at least get a trophy for it. This might seem outlandish but its something I would do just to laugh off eventually.

Having got this far into the reading, the challenge is to adopt a gifting culture for yourself and people around you. The trick is not to expect anything in return because this would break your heart. Just gift to see that reaction on someone’s face as they unwrap or gift to put a smile on someone’s face. These gifts have a special way they get to you without your noticing. Even though the receiving party does not reciprocate, the act does get to them and one way or another and they will in their own way. Since we cannot pour from an empty cup, begin with gifting yourself for absolutely no reason because that is a reason in itself.