I lost interest years ago in giving and receiving things for Christmas. It felt impersonal.
What I've learned from living my life and years of clutter busting with clients was that what we cherish most are experiences rather than stuff.
Experiences are alive. We are connected to an experience. They wake us up. We remember a good experience years after it's happened.
So a few years back, I wanted to give my wife a present of experiences. I came up with the Couponer. I got out a sheet of paper and some pastels and I created boxes of experiences that I know she likes. "Walk along the beach," "Dinner and a movie," "Tell a story," "Cook dinner," "Surprise," "Surprise too." I think there were about twenty experiences.
She was so happy to get this gift. She imagined the joy she'd get from using each of the coupons over the next year.
The Couponer is secretly also a present to me because I get to enjoy these experiences with her.
My wife ended up creating a Couponer for me, and it's become a yearly tradition for us.
I wanted to share this if you are looking for an alternative to the usual gift-giving.
