The Gift of No-Thing

The Gift of No-Thing

Some of my favorite gifts I have given have been nothing. And by that I mean nothing tangible. Not toys or clothes or electronics. Not even the things I have made for people. Nope, some of the best gifts are things that I have done for people or things people have done for me. If you’ve never done this before, I’ll show you what it looks like to give somebody nothing – but still feel like you gave them something. Curious?  

The practice of giving what I like to call ‘No-Thing’ gifts (or ‘experiential’ gifts) is a tradition in my family. For example, my older sister gave me a gift certificate for my 10th birthday. It entitled me to a “fancy dress up dinner” out with her, whenever I chose. For a little sister that was a pretty awesome gift. It was the early 90’s, and more than a Walkman or Spandex leggings, what I really wanted was to know that my older, and thus cooler, sister really cared about me. We did get to go out for dinner, and I kept that certificate for many years afterward.

This kind of gift is also perfect for those in your life who already have ‘everything.’ One year, as a broke student, I was stumped on what to get for my parents for Christmas. By the time people are in their 50’s or 60’s they are so hard to buy ‘things’ for. If they like something, they just go out and get it. So here’s what I came up with: I taught myself how to play basic guitar (something I wanted to do anyway) and learned a song in Spanish that I really liked. On Christmas morning I played it for them. They couldn’t have been more thrilled. And they truly appreciated the fact that they didn’t have to find anywhere in the house to put it!

Those are just a couple of my favorite examples, but there are many more. And to be clear, I don’t do no-thing gifts all the time, but sometimes they are a really good fit. And they don’t always have to be something you think up yourself. There are organizations that can help you give a ‘no-thing’ gift. Here’s a case in point: last year I made goodie boxes of home-made things for both of my siblings at Christmas, which made sense at the time. But this year is different. My older brother will be travelling and not home to pick up a parcel, and my older sister has just finished moving and purging her stuff. So this year each of them will be receiving a card, explaining a charitable donation that has been made in their name. Spoiler alert! My brother will be receiving a ‘chicken’ from the Oxfam Unwrapped campaign, and my sister will be receiving ‘seeds’ from the USC Seeds of Survival campaign.

Who on your Christmas list would enjoy a gift like this?