I have always loved giving gifts. It gives me a lot of satisfaction to have paid enough attention to the people I care about to give them gifts that they are meaningful to them. Years ago, I was telling a friend about a present I was in the process of making for someone and, although the idea was simple and inexpensive, I just knew that they were going to love it. My friend was so impressed and she told me then that I should make a business out of this talent and I totally ignored the suggestion. I didn’t see myself as unique, I thought everyone had the ability to do this.
Fast forward a few years. Another friend’s birthday was approaching. I went out to get him a present and was so excited to find so many great ideas that I went way over my very meager budget. I knew I was going to have to return most of what I had gotten so that I could buy groceries instead but, luckily, when his mother invited me to his birthday party (which was the next day) she mentioned that she, not only didn’t have time to go shopping, but had no idea what to get him. Problem solved! I had the things with me, since I had planned to go return them, and showed her the things I had bought and she was delighted! After seeing everything, she knew that they were the perfect gifts and I promised that I wouldn’t disclose that she hadn’t done the shopping herself. That night, amid his family and friends he opened his presents and he looked so overwhelmed and happy. He had loved everything! It made me so happy and he never knew that I had picked out those things. Later that evening, he, his girlfriend and I were hanging out and he said to us “I can’t believe how predictable I must be! They got me everything I love, I love this fabric (as he touched the sleeve of one of his new shirts) and they knew…” He never knew that they didn’t hand-pick those presents. I solved the problem of them feeling stressed out and at a loss to know how to move forward, I made him very happy, all the while being tickled to have done such a wonderful job of pleasing everyone. It felt so good! Yet I still didn’t see this as something that I was good at…
Ten years after my friend had told me I should do this for a living I finally see what she meant. Like a website designer who can take the ideas for the website and turn a functional webiste into a work of art, I take your ideas, knowledge and observations and help translate that into ideas for the perfect present. Something that helps you reflect how much they mean to you and your special relationship with them.
