The Gift and the Wrapping

Posted on December 15, 2014 by pujakins

by Tasha Halpert

Being somewhat uncoordinated when it come to things like wrapping packages, I have always struggled with trying to make my presents look reasonably attractive. Some people are really creative with how they wrap their presents. I envy them. I wish I had that kind of creativity. My mind tends to run along more utilitarian tracks and I don’t always think to add the trimmings.

I have a friend who does lovely wrapping. She told me about the finishing touches she had put on the colorful hand made gifts she had crocheted. She went on to tell me that someone said to her that the decorative packaging she had purchased to do this was extravagant, asking why she had spent so much money on something that would soon be discarded.

I understood completely why she had wanted to do this. Her gift was special and she wanted it to look that way. Her expenditure made perfect sense to me. While I tend to be less decorative in my thinking I can admire someone who knows how to do up a package and make it look special. My artistic friend has very clever fingers and knows exactly how to fix up a package to make it look extra special. I wish I had her skills.

The care with which a gift is presented says something important about the giver as well as the gift. Stephen and I accumulate presents for family and friends all during the year; my wrapping though not fancy is part of the caring. I used to have a dreadful time wrapping presents until a friend who had done professional wrapping for a department store showed me some useful tricks. Now I can make my packages look much more attractive.

There was a time when wrapping paper for Christmas gifts was not as inexpensive or as available as it is now. When I was a child we used to save all our Christmas gift paper from year to year and reuse it as often as we could. The use of scotch tape was discouraged and gift paper was sturdier as well. I remember one special piece of wrapping paper that appeared every year on a different present. It had an elaborate design and was very lovely as well as quite durable. In her elder years as the Christmas presents were opened my late mother would spend her time folding the wrapping papers. I expect this brought back vanished memories of when we were all young.

At this season of giving many feel compelled to spend money they don’t have to buy gifts for others who probably don’t need them. The simple gift of a hug and a plate of home made cookies or a hand made card might do just as well. Even young children need to learn to be content with less rather than yearn for more. Whatever I give at Christmas is primarily a token of my affection, and it need not be expensive or fancy. I will, however, wrap it with care and love because these are the real gift I am giving.

The Habit of Being Happy by Tasha Halpert

Posted on December 8, 2014 by pujakins

Each day I open and enjoy a quote sent to me by Gratefulness.org, an Internet site dedicated to the expression of gratitude. Their specialty is the relaying of positive and uplifting news and views. A recent quote I enjoyed from Robert Louis Stevenson struck me as being an appropriate subject for a Heartwings Love Note. “The habit of being happy enables one to be freed, or largely freed, from domination of outside conditions.”

I know that this sounds odd, yet it has proven to me to be a truth to live by. I used to think if had thus and so or such and such it would make me happy. And it is true that making a change in circumstances can sometimes make a difference to anyone’s happiness, yet in the main it is the acknowledgement of those things in my life that I cherish and that gladden my heart that form the core of my own inner happiness.

All too often, and most especially at this time of year, the bringing of happiness becomes a selling point for practically every kind of gift or even donation to a cause. These appeals completely ignore the fact that happiness is not something that can be given or bestowed by any act on the part of someone else. Happiness can only come from within. It may come briefly as the response to the gift or act, yet that feeling soon fades if it is not habitual.

On the other hand, if I have the habit of happiness, my response to conditions that could create unhappiness will not be one of dismay but rather one of patience, tolerance, or even when I am able to see the situation in the right light, gratitude. R.L.S. as he was often known, had a great many challenges in his lifetime, one severe one being the health problems that plagued him for most of his life. Yet he persevered and wrote remarkable stories and wonderful poems that have endured in popularity through many generations.

As a child I enjoyed his poems and to this day can still quote a few. As I grew older I became enthralled by his wonderful stories of heroes and villains, Treasure Island and all the rest peopled by characters that caught my imagination and made me want to be part of their world. His adult short stores are also most entertaining. He is still one of my favorite authors. Yet I did not know much about his personal life until later on, and when I read about it I admired him even more.

A current hit song, heard everywhere these days is called “Happiness.” A catchy, bouncy tune, it exemplifies to me the light hearted feeling that the habit of happiness sings in my heart. As I work to stay with my attitude of gratitude for my life and all is holds I can feel this happiness glowing within me. It is an all season inner sense of rejoicing that helps me feel good no mater the weather or the circumstances. Practice makes perfect, and I find that this practice of inner happiness is most enjoyable.

Posted on December 1, 2014 by pujakins

Indulgence Versus Overindulgence by Tasha Halpert

Stephen plopped another load of catalogs from the postman on the table. “The poor mailman must be tired having to lug all this stuff around,” he said as we prepared to recycle most of them. “I agree,” I said, “And it’s amazing how fast they found us at this address. We’ve only been here a few months and already we’re getting all kinds of stuff from our former address and other places too.” As I glanced at the shiny covers before dropping them into the wastebasket I thought about the catalogs from my childhood.

I remember when the number of catalogs my parents received were few and far between, not the quantities that arrive annually in the mail from October through most of December. For me as a child they were fun to look through and very helpful. My opportunity to shop in actual stores was rare. Young people growing up today have no idea what it might be like to have one car in the family, limits on gasoline, and no malls–only local stores.

Today’s plethora of opportunities for shopping indulgence can easily make for overindulgence. Tempting ads in catalogs, shiny online images of pretty items plus the ease of online shopping–not to mention the heaps of catalogs the postman delivers present would be Santas with a banquet of goods. Credit cards–buy now pay later, make it even easier to spend more than might be wise given one’s resources.

I remember how good I felt a number of years ago when I got my first credit card. Now I didn’t have to wait to buy something; I could have it right away. Prior to this I had to put things I couldn’t afford to pay for immediately on layaway, which meant waiting until the item was paid off to take it home. The opportunities to spend as well as the ease of access to goods makes for a potential for unexpected debt. It is amazing to me how even small purchases add up to a grand total that always seems more than I anticipate.

In addition, while the items in a catalog or online might seem quite wonderful by description, the reality may be quite different. I have all too often been disappointed in the actuality of the gift once it arrived and was opened. This is also true of food from catalogs which often is not nearly as tasty as it appears in the pretty pictures. It is not only easy but also more tempting to be less choosy when one is not putting limits on one’s indulgences.

However, as well as a downside, there is also a good side to this situation. The opportunity to indulge with limits rather than overindulge without them, can present a chance to practice restraint as well as detachment. Life, that marvelous daily Buddha, offers us many opportunities for important spiritual lessons. Reining in the appetite for spending as well as choosing wisely the absolutely perfect single gift can be a marvelous chance for spiritual practice as well as a way to save.