It’s the time of year when everyone’s getting ready to spend time with family and stocking up gifts. I’m all for spending time with loved ones, and who doesn’t like getting presents? Still, the gift giving tradition has me a bit conflicted for a couple reasons.

As an organizer, I see so many homes that are cluttered with lots of gifts that have been bought over the years that have yet to be given to the intended recipients. Some people get very stressed out and overspend on gifts/decorations, especially when they are hosting a holiday dinner. It’s curious that this happens only at select times of year.

Even more curious, why isn’t every day a celebration? Why isn’t “family time” special all the time? Why not just give a gift for no reason at all? Personally, I’m just more apt to give a gift “just because,” and I’m not the only one who does this.

Did you know that there’s a group in Japan’s Shinjuku district, that gives free hugs as mini gifts to people just to cheer them up? These random acts of kindness are done with no expectation for what they will get in return. How cool…and nice…is that?

It doesn’t cost to give hugs, so it’s easy, right? Well, some people give large amounts of money without being named. Here are a few…

Back in February 2008, someone anonymously gave $5 million to the Opera Santa Barbara. The donor will be identified only after his or her death. Here’s another…In 2007, the University of California at San Francisco received $150 million for cancer care and research. Still one more…back in 2001, someone gave $100 million to Johns Hopkins University to create a malaria institute. In fact, a recent article in the LA Times mentioned that anonymous donors in 2007 made 87 gifts that totaled almost $1.1 billion.

Ok, so maybe some of the folks giving away all that money might have one or two ulterior motives. Really though, the point I’m trying to make is that gift giving should be meaningful, not based on what will be gotten in return nor dictated by tradition. This may sound radical to some and you might really enjoy giving presents during the holidays.

So, perhaps you might reconsider the type of gifts that you buy. Check out Clutter Free Holiday Gift Giving That is Both Meaningful and Useful by fellow organizer, Scott Roewer. The title says it all. Also, take a peek at 2008 Gift Giving Guide: Gifts of Clutter on Unclutterer.com. It tells you exactly what to leave on the store shelf.

Happy shopping…or not.

Related Information

• Anonymous Gift Giving
• No Name Tags on Donors’ Big Gifts
• Gift Trapped?
• Free Hugs in Shinjuku