Secret Delights in Making Holiday Gift

No, I'm not going to whine and complain about all the gifts I have yet to make.  Today I am going to celebrate something very lovely I have discovered about gift making.  Actually, we all know the basic feel good reactions: the nobility of making something for someone else, the pleasure of anticipating the pleasure of someone else, and the knowledge of making something useful that will be used.  There are other reasons you could probably list; these are just a few that popped into my mind.

 

Today I learned some other wonderful things about making gifts.  There are times when I am asked to make something, or times when I realize I know the perfect gift for someone even though they haven't asked for it.  There is a sense of secret delight that to me is different from the public one associated with gift giving.  It's that little hug you mentally give yourself as you prepare the "perfect" gift.  It's an earned pat on the back.  It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's a pleasure from start to finish.  That's one special joy.  It isn't really new, but verbalizing the way I feel is new.  Now I have a truer sense of why the rare "perfect" gift is so special to me as well as to the recipient.

 

Here's the one that's really a first for me.  I have made a few things this year that I wouldn't have done if they weren't intended as gifts.  On top of that, some were items I've never made before.  The personal thrill came from doing an excellent job, making something really special for someone, knowing that I can do it again, and knowing that possibly, just possibly, I would make it for myself.  It sounds selfish, but here's the thing.  All those feeling-special-about-me things means that I have been given the ability to do something that will make another person happy.  It means my time has been put to good use.

It means,"Stop complaining, Noel!"