WHY GIFT-GIVING IS NO LONGER MONKEY BUSINESS
There’s a change afoot in the gift-giving process, people are switching from ‘stuff’ to experience gifts. But it’s no new thing, even our ancestors were ahead of the game when it came to parting with their hard-earned bananas.
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The first part of the following story may not be entirely accurate, but stay with me, it goes a long way towards making a very important point on the subject of gift-giving.
According to *science, your ancestors were monkeys. But hey, that’s ok, so were mine.
In order to be successful at being monkeys, our ancestors gave each other gifts. A banana here, a handful of nuts there, and from time to time we even picked the bugs out of each other’s fur — and ate them. (You’re welcome).
Giving each other gifts made us a pretty close-knit family of monkeys.
We liked to hang out together — in more ways than one — share food together, play together and sleep together. We had a strong family bond and were the envy of all the other monkeys in the jungle. Because we gave each other really cool gifts.
Photo by Ahmed Zayan on Unsplash
Meet our monkeycestors
Our monkeycestors gave each other gifts because they knew that they needed the support of the entire community in order to survive. Plus, gifts helped to firmly cement that community bond.
Take for example the story of Monkey A.
He twisted his ankle escaping a snake that had surprised him while he was out digging for termites. Now, poor Monkey A is in pain and can’t really travel far to search for food. That’s not good, because every other monkey in the troop realizes that Monkey A knows exactly where to find the very best fruits. The result is a lot of very unhappy, and very hungry monkeys.
Photo by Ahmed Zayan on Unsplash
Enter Monkey B.
Monkey B remembers a time when Monkey A had brought her some really tasty bananas, for no particular reason, and now it’s payback time. That’s the power of gift-giving.
This, according to a scientist named Robert Trivers is called ‘reciprocal altruism’.
The idea behind this reciprocal altruism, according to Trivers, is that individuals can be more successful by helping each other rather than just themselves. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours (and I’ll probably eat what I find).
*A little bit of science — Ok, the truth may have been stretched a little to illustrate the point. Humans didn’t really evolve from monkeys. Humans, chimpanzees, old-world apes, and gorillas all evolved from a common ancestor, but, at some point in history, the species diverged into two distinct branches — Hominids and apes. But, the story nicely illustrates that gift-giving is an important aspect for both species and their evolution.
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When choosing a gift becomes a nightmare
There are many reasons, besides altruism, why we give each other gifts:
- Birthday gifts
- Anniversaries
- Engagements
- Wedding gifts
- Baby showers
- Retirement gifts
- Job appreciation and bonuses
- Performance reviews
- New Year gifts
- Diwali gifts
- Hanukkah gifts
- Thanksgiving gifts
- Christmas gifts, and a hell of a lot more…
But there’s one common denominator between all of these occasions — choosing the right gift usually turns into a nightmare experience.
When giving a gift becomes the ‘expected thing to do’ rather than the ‘right thing to do’, it’s usually the quality of the gift that suffers.
How many times do we placate ourselves with the corny old line, “Hey, c’mon, it’s the thought that counts”, as you pick out yet another worthless piece of crap?
In this situation, the gift giver’s thought process can be called into question, and not in a good way.
Photo by Rob Schreckhise on Unsplash
When you’re buying a gift, whether it’s a personal gift for friends and family or a corporate gift, you should be asking yourself a couple of questions:
- Did you put enough thought into the gift?
- Did you actually care enough?
- Was cost a factor in the choice?
- Do you even know anything about the recipient’s likes and dislikes?
- Were you deliberately trying to be nasty?
- Will the recipient get any value from the gift?
- Do you expect something in return?
- Maybe you should rethink your whole gifting process from the top?
All these questions appear to make choosing the right gift even harder, not easier. But, trust an ex-monkey, it doesn’t have to be like that. You too can become the champion of gift-giving.
Photo by Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash
How to become a world champion gift-giver
Firstly, it’s easy to become a champion gift-giver. Don’t overthink it.
The answer is this — GIVE EXPERIENCE GIFTS!
Experience gifts are not just things that clutter our shelves or get banished to the darkest corners of the garage or attic. Experience gifts don’t end up in yard-sales or given away to charities. Or, worse still, end up being dumped in landfills to pollute the planet even further.
Experiences as gifts are exactly what they say they are, they are the gift of an experience over a material thing.
The world of gift-giving is changing faster than superman in a phone booth. We’re becoming tired, bored, frustrated with the constant accumulation of material possessions.
These possessions add only a brief value to our lives. We are beginning to demand new experiences, new stories, new values, and new memories to accompany our lives.
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Are you ready for the global shift in gifting?
Companies like Tinggly are among the growing wave of experience gift providers. By purchasing one complete collection of Tinggly gift experiences, the recipient — your family member, friend, colleague, or client — can choose from literally hundreds of worldwide experiences and find the perfect gift just for them.
With a choice of over 2,000 hand-picked experience gifts, in over one hundred countries there’s a whole world of choice.
From balloon rides, skydiving, safaris, luxurious spa treatments, romantic dinner cruises, wine tasting, wildlife encounters, authentic local cooking classes, and sailing adventures, to bungee jumping and exploring the secrets of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts, Tinggly has provided an unforgettable gift of experience for every personality type.
What’s not to love?
Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash
And the bonus is YOUR happiness
It’s clear, we have enough stuff in our lives. Plus, it’s becoming even clearer that experiences are the future of gifting, and, the one who knows this gets to wear the crown.
And here’s the bonus, it can make the giver happy too.
Did you know that there are two types of happiness that come with giving an appreciated experience gift?
The happiness that comes with giving a well-chosen gift, and the enduring happiness for the receiver that comes with the experience, the stories, and the memories that it generates for years to come.
We may no longer swing from the trees, but we still appreciate genuine gifts given with the right heart.
Don’t let the prospect of choosing Christmas gifts, wedding gifts, birthday gifts, or any other type of gift become a monkey on your back.
You now know what to do, it’s easy — give stories, not stuff.
