AN original and imaginative gift shows a loved one how much you care, but you haven’t taken the time or trouble to choose anything like these:
Something you’ve made yourself
Crafting a gift with your own hands is generosity of spirit in its purest form, and only attainable for people willing to set aside time, money and patience for the sake of others. It doesn’t matter that it would likely be shit. That jar of chutney would have got you laid, if you’d bothered.
Something you’ve had personalised
An engraved bracelet, an embossed journal, a bottle opener with their initials on: even the most generic gifts become thoughtful when you have ordered them with enough time to have them tailored to the giftee. Scrawling someone’s name on a wine label is nowhere near. And you haven’t even done that.
An object made in a place they love
Sourcing a piece of jewellery, ceramic or clothing from a city or country that your loved one has visited and enjoyed shows such kindness that you wish you’d thought of it. It’s too late now, like it always is.
A book on a topic they’re passionate about
A book on a subject about which they are curious would show not only that you listen to your dear ones, but also that you bother to remember what they have told you. Neither is a possibility for you, in this world or the next.
Cash
Cash is a way of indulging someone that works for everyone from the cash-strapped to the greedy rich. Although it may seem impersonal, you do have to get to a cashpoint, and organise a card as well as an envelope in advance to make it truly thoughtful, which is only possible for those who actually care and think about others.
