Yule Blog Hop: The Presents of "Presence" and Other Little Gifts

Blessings of the season to all of you! Hopefully you are coming to visit me from Arwen’s blog.

At this time of year, presents are on the mind. You agonize over what to get every person on your list, and you wait with anticipation to see their smile as they open your gift. You wonder what you might receive from others, and look forward to ripping open those packages. Well…at least I do.

But what I want to focus on today are the intangible presents, the “gifts” that we receive each and every day from people that are not of the physical or mundane realm.

A lot of people who know about the tarot will tell you that Pentacles is a suit about money and work, and I have no argument with that. What many of us forget, however, is that it’s also our “resource “ suit. Money is a very tangible resource, but our time is less so, and many may not even consider that a resource, although in many ways for me it may be the most precious.

Think about it; how many times have you walked out of a movie thinking, “That’s two hours of my life I’ll never get back!”? Or when you come home drained from work or an event?

You remember that time you were really upset and your friend took more than an hour of their time to talk you down and let you vent? They listened. They consoled. They tried to cheer you up. They didn’t have to do it; they chose to help. They gave their time and energy for you. To me, that’s a fantastic gift right there.

How many times has your significant other done things for you? Sure, you think, s/he does things for me all the time. But those are gifts, too. You’re settled into your comfy chair and some ice cream appears next to you, complete with a spoon and napkin. You might not feel like climbing the stairs that one more time, and s/he offers to run upstairs and grab what you need.

Just the very presence of that special someone is a gift. I had a lesson in that a few weeks ago. I went to Europe for the first time in many years—11 to be exact—and at the encouraging of my beloved bride, I went by myself. She knew she’d be taking on all the extra stuff I do at home while I was gone, like the trash, and was willing to give me up for a week as I had an adventure on my own.

I was excited for the trip, and had a great time. The day before I returned home, I went to Disneyland Paris, and as I entered the park and looked around, I realized that I’d never been to a theme park ALONE. My beloved wasn’t there to enjoy it with me. She doesn’t ride many rides, but she wasn’t there waiting for me when I came out, asking me how it went. She wasn’t looking for that perfect souvenir in a shop. The lack of her presence cut me to the core, and I was glad that I would be seeing her the next day.

[Before I forget, I want to give a shout out to all my non-American colleagues—I was truly impressed that people from every nation imaginable came out to Paris Disneyland in the nearly freezing weather, complete with drizzle, to enjoy the park. I’m not sure how many Americans would have braved it in conditions like that, except perhaps for this crazy Yankee. But I digress.]

My point is that it doesn’t have to be tangible to be a gift. We receive so much from our families and friends each day that we sometimes miss. Because while I’ll be the first to admit that presents don’t suck at all, my life would suck a whole lot more if not for the little gifts I receive every day from those in my life.

This holiday season, take time to give thanks for the little gifts that come our way as well as for presents. Blessings of the season to all of you!

Now it’s time to head on to Stella's blog!

PS: You can find the master list of all blogs here! A special thanks to Alison for wrangling us this go-round! :)