The Beauty of Charitable Donations as a Gift

The world is much less fragmented in terms of societal function and economic function, but far more fragmented in terms of friend and family locations than it has ever been in the past. No longer is it typically possible for the whole family to get together to create warm memories at Christmas. Yet, more than ever before it is possible to send gifts and correspondence for Christmas to far off places where we have friends and family all around the world. Before the Internet, many of us thought the holidays had become commercialized, but we had no idea just how commercialized a globalized economy and social infrastructure would be. Now, more than ever before, special occasions, such as Christmas, birthdays, and anniversaries are more about sending some new gadget or trinket than about truly thinking about what we can do for others.

It is more than just the dimming of holidays or the changing of how they're celebrated. It is about the intense thought and emotion that used to go into spending special times together exchanging heartfelt gifts. Instead of thinking about what we can do for those who live around us, as well as friends and family, we find ourselves locked in our houses, sending virtual cards with three or four clicks to people far away. We may not even have friends living around us.

What may be worse is that anything we can think to buy we can typically find at a reasonable price online, if not in a local department store chain. So how can we possibly come up with something desirable to another person to give as a gift and be relatively assured they don't already have it at hand? Coming up with good gift ideas has never been more challenging than it is today.

So the special days of the year are no longer what they once used to be and gift giving is no longer a simple task. However, even in this time of superficial, commercial giving of gifts people don't really need or want, there exist options for giving great gifts. More thoughtful gifts are in order. People are worth the time it takes us to choose their gifts. We need not aim to merely pacify them with gifts of which they'll soon have no use or memory.

We can give shared importance back to the key events of our lives with beautiful, thoughtful, unique gifts. This will bring us something to once again be joyful about. More importantly, a truly thoughtful, unique gift will once again give us something to make ourselves feel good.

So what can we give the person who has access to everything? Give a gift in that person's honor to a charity that person appreciates. What could be better than receiving the gift of knowing that your concern for those in need has led to a donation to help those people? What could be better than giving a gift that conveys that you recognize and respect the receiver's values and of knowing that you've done something to help others? Nothing says you care like a card with a note that you've donated to a worthy charity in honor of the recipient.

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