Gift Guide

My friend

Sarah Wheeler

is doing a survey focused on how the pandemic’s long tail has impacted families, and since this is, well, examined family, I am hoping you might be interested in filling it out. It only takes about 10 minutes and I found the reflective space really nourishing, beyond the good feeling of contributing to a broader, collective understanding of how we’ve all been impacted by this thing. Go here to reflect and contribute.

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I’m not big on receiving gifts (with the exception of homemade gifts and cards etc.), but I LOVE giving them, especially when it feels organic, authentic, and full of delight. So here’s a “gift guide” in that spirit. Add your ideas in comments, please! I know you all are probably exceptional gift givers.

For elders:

• A gift subscription to The Christian Science Monitor — rigorous, optimistic, accurate

• Art (posters, calendars, cards) from Radici Studios about community, connection, and justice

• A digital picture frame - a real splurge, but you can text photos from anywhere that will show up in the frame.

• The Mindful Grandparent and/or On the Brink of Everything

• Photo puzzle of an old photograph from their youth, or a piece of art by their grandchildren

For kids:

• The best children’s book ever about infinite resources like love and creativity

• A sunprint kit

• A body-positive style sketchbook

• Sleeping Queens - a fantastic card game

• Dream journal for kids

For partners and friends:

• Make a book of a particularly amazing group chat moment

• Rancho Gordo Bean Club membership

• The Book of Delights

• A series of meetings with a spiritual director

• Ray’s Hand - a special little book about Ray Eames, the painter in the Ray & Charles Eames configuration. (Full disclosure: my honey runs the organization that produced this.)

Non-monetary gifts for anyone and everyone:

• Pressed flowers on a card or in a clear frame.

• Poems (Start with the prompt: Love is…; write 10 lines. You’ve got a poem.)

• A small handmade book of delights (see Ross Gay)

• A Spotify playlist of songs or podcast episodes you think they would love

• Homemade gift certificate for museum visits, meals, massages, walks, screen-free attention, picks ups and drop offs, grocery shops etc.

If you have benefited from this newsletter over the last year, maybe consider giving it as a gift to someone else that you think might be nourished, accompanied, or inspired by it? That’s a gift to me, too.