0170D: About Giving Gifts

December is very much upon us and thus we come to the annual challenge of thinking of Christmas gifts for your friends and loved ones. There's always the question finding the absolutely perfect gift to show how much you care for the person - and typically the best gifts aren't even all that expensive. The retail industry naturally capitalizes on this period to push the commercial aspect of the coming holidays, but that's just the way the world works. It's really up to the individual to figure out where their sensibilities lie.

This year we have the added complication of the Bohol earthquake and Typhoon Yolanda that have pretty much ravaged the Visayas region. There are a lot of calls for cancelling Christmas events and diverting the intended funds towards further aiding relief efforts in the area and thus we're in that weird place where it actually becomes a question whether any sort of Christmas celebrations are still appropriate given all that has happened.

At the end of the day, it should really be up to the individual. Do what makes you feel happy and fulfilled. After all, the person who needs to live with your actions is you - what everyone else thinks is besides the point. If anything, I guess just have the propriety not to indulge in excess or anything like that - natural calamities or not that will always be in bad taste.

Gift giving is about showing how you care. It's not the price tag value of the gift that matters but what you want to say with the gift. Depending on your personal context, a hug may be worlds more valuable than anything from a store, and that can be a very great thing indeed.

Thus here I am practically clueless as to what I might want to give as presents. I don't exactly give a lot of them so I try to put some extra effort into figuring out the best ones. And no, I don't want to have to wage war in department stores just to get them. Shop smart, right?