As a Law of Attraction Life Coach, I began thinking about gift-giving and how to integrate the Law of Attraction into my holiday season this year.  One important thing to remember is that it’s the place we come from when giving that makes all the difference, not the gift itself.  The higher this place, or vibration is, the better we feel about giving, which in turn positively affects the person receiving the gift.  Remembering that everything is energy, why not give a gift that evokes a sense of warmth, kindness and thoughtfulness, a gift from the heart, versus just purchasing something for the sake of it. It’s not the thing itself that we long for anyway, it’s the way the thing makes us feel.

We are in a very unique time on the planet, a time of reflection, of deepening into our core values, and a time of deliberate choice about how we want to spend our lives, our time and our money.  We are evaluating what is most important to us, and around the country people are consciously choosing simpler lives without the need for excessive materialism, distractions and the constant need for the activity-ridden lifestyles we have created.  In exchange for this, we want experiences that matter, such as spending more time with our families, taking time to do things we always wanted to but never did, listening deeper, sharing more, and generally connecting to a happier place within ourselves.  This perception shift in our thinking requires that we also look at how we want to affect others, and the holiday season is a great time to begin to incorporate a more meaningful experience for ourselves and those around us.

Therefore, in honor of a simpler, more authentic way to spend your holidays this year, let me share with you some ideas that I have come up with that you can give that won’t cost much if anything at all, except for your time and intention.

  • Write a hand-written letter to the people you would normally give a gift to, telling them what you appreciate about them the most and why they are so important to you. Sharing why someone has made a difference in your life can be a treasure they will never forget. You can also include sentimental memories like “Remember when…”, and tell them how what they did meant to you.
  • Using the same premise as above, record a video on your camera, phone or video-camera of you telling the person how much they mean to you, perhaps share some old memories that you have of them of something they did that touched your heart, or maybe even sing them a song. Use this the same way you would the letter, the only difference being that it’s visual.
  • Make a hand-made card using real pictures, drawings, a favorite poem or your children’s artwork to mail to friends and family.
  • Create a scrap book that chronicles special things that you and your family or friends can share. If you have children, you can make one scrap book per child so they each have their own book of memories as a keepsake.
  • Hold a Holiday dinner at your home in which everyone brings something home-made to share with each other, and then go around the table and have everyone share three things that they are most grateful for this season.
  • Purchase a Genealogy software program (approx. $39.95) in which the entire family can get involved creating your own family’s history. One of the other gifts in this process is that it develops communication between family members, especially some of the elders so that they can share their stories and contribute to the family history in their own special way. http://store.ancestry.com/ProductDetail.aspx?p=mfsku4751(shops)
  • Give the gift of home baked goods with neighbors and friends and tie the recipe to the basket, plate or tin with a note about the importance of their friendship in your life.
  • Plan a fun family event such as a picnic, a hike, a movie. Do something together that brings the family closer together.
  • Decide as a family to donate time to feed the homeless or provide for families in need this holiday season to experience the true value of giving.
  • Ask people to donate to your favorite charity instead of giving you gifts that you really don’t need because it would mean so much more to you.
  • Create a special playlist of your loved ones’ favorite music and put it on their iPod.
  • Make a personalized Coupon Booklet in which you create coupons that are all good for something such as, “This coupon entitles you to one home-made pancake breakfast” or “This coupon entitles you to one day without chores” and so on.
  • Create a Magical Creation Box in which all members of the family can write down and/or place pictures of the things they want to manifest. Then every so often pull out the box and review the things in the box so that everyone can get back in touch with the feeling of what it is that they want to manifest.
  • Have a special movie night in which you watch a meaningful Holiday movie such as Miracle on 34th Street as a family. Make it extra special by baking cookies, making hot cocoa, popcorn, or other things that everyone will enjoy.
  • Create a Signature Book in which you purchase a journal like book that fits the personality of the person it is intended for.  Then, have everyone who knows that person write something in the book.  This becomes a sweet experience for the ones writing in the book, as well as for the person receiving it as it will brighten their day and also tells them how much people care about them.
  • Post a blog about why someone is so special to you, and then send them a link to the page so that they can read it.
  • Get a special storybook or book of poems, ones with a beautiful message, and read it to your family or loved one each evening in the month of December. If you have a fireplace, or a peaceful room, read it there, perhaps with a cup of hot tea and a lit candle.
  • Host a child in another country who is in need.
  • Adopt a whale, a wolf, or whatever creature touches your Heart as a measure to reach out and help animals in need.

The other benefit of giving gifts from the heart is that they open up your creative centers as well as your heart center allowing you to also experience giving on a whole new level.

Do you have some additional ideas to share with others?  Please add your comments, ideas and suggestions to this blog post!