THE SIMPLE LIFE

GIFT-GIVING

Is it wrong to have this strong desire to post a wish list? Does it give the impression that I'm greedy or materialistic? I was thinking about our annual gift-exchange and it seems like every year, we have such great difficulty figuring out what to get each person. Wouldn't it just be easier to have a list to chose from - a list large enough that there would still be some element of surprise? (as per Herb's suggestion) This is the method my family and I have been using the past couple of years.

Most people want something practical and as a gift-giver, I personally wouldn't want to spend money on something that they didn't like or would just sit around collecting dust. Isn't this the best way to solve the problem? How did gift-giving come about anyways? What is the perpose or symbolic meaning behind all of it? Am I just being too practical and not appreciating the whole thought behind it?

I know that there are some things that I could use or would like to get for myself but most of the time, I'm just too cheap to be willing to spend money on it. I'd rather spend money on other people because I find that I don't cherish things as much if I buy them for myself. Does anyone feel the same way? I can't even begin to tell you how much I've spent on sunglasses that I've lost but I can tell you each crease in the books that have been given to me (there aren't many). Or maybe it's just that I take care of my books a lot better than anything else. Weird huh?

I'm coming home in 3 days!!