A Gift of Fortune!

What makes a gift, a gift?

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Now, here’s an interesting thing. What makes a gift, a gift?

Wrapping paper? Tat grabbed last minute from the ‘stocking filler’ dumping ground near the check-outs, the endless boxes of various chocolate, bubble-bath, deodorant, sweets blah, blah, blah? You can almost hear the boxes shouting at you, ‘go on, buy me for Dave!’ So you do, and Dave is crossed off the list. Hoorah! But is it truly given in the spirit of gifting?

Years ago, I read a fascinating book by Lewis Hyde called, appropriately enough, The Gift. In this book, Hyde talks about the way a gift needs to stay in circulation to continue its giving spirit. (The book goes into a lot more, including the creation of the gift economy vs market economy. It’s well worth a read.)

So, this Christmas morning when Dave gets his Lynx Africa (other brands are available!) rattling around in a large box, the spirit of that gift ends under Dave’s sweaty arm-pits. Nice.

Now, consider things you have been gifted in the past, maybe handed down from older generations, family heirlooms, jewellery, art, books, records, furniture and such things. These gifts are imbued with treasured memories. They also continue to live on through your use and interaction with them. Plus, it is highly likely the gift will one day be passed onto another, keeping it in circulation in an endless cycle of gift giving and gift receiving.

OK, let me take a step back. I don’t want you to read this and now be looking around at the various presents you have brought this Christmas and feel deflated. Christmas is a bizarre mix of the gifting vs market economy (in a nutshell, the former is giving freely without expecting anything in return, the latter is purchased usually as part of a transaction, you give and also receive). So, giving presents at Christmas is, of course, great and part of the spirit of Christmas.

What I am talking about here is finding the gift that keeps on giving, beyond the use, where the receiver can give back and on and on.

Which brings me totally coincidentally (a-hem!) to this Christmas and any last minute gifts you may still need to purchase.

Imagine… you and your loved ones are sat around the Christmas tree, early Christmas Day. You are buzzing with excitement as you know what delight hides inside the envelope you have ready for that someone special. The time comes and you hand it over. They open it. A Christmas card is inside, which tells them you hope 2025 will be the year their dreams come true! So saying, there is a print-out of their one year gift subscription to The Dream-Maker’s Manifesto!

Yes, that lucky little tinker in your life will have hours of endless fun, motivation and inspiration delving into the entire back catalogue of articles informing them how they can take their dream, project or idea and make it a reality. What’s more, they can get paid for doing so! All it takes is a dream, strategy, scheme, discipline and motivation and they will be on their way.

Meanwhile, you have opened their gift to you and smile politely knowing the lavender bubble-bath is kind and you are most grateful.

Give the gift of Fortune today! Buy your gift subscription, print it out, put it into an envelope with an appropriate Christmas card and voila: no shops, no stress, no queues… plus you’ll be giving them something that keeps on giving, something they can learn from, create and put out into the world—hence the gift stays forever in circulation.

Put your feet up and relax. Enjoy a glass of mulled wine, watch your favourite Christmas film. You deserve it for being brilliant!

Well… seed planted.

Thanks for reading The Dream-Maker’s Manifesto. I wish you and your family a magical Christmas and I’ll be back in the New Year with more ideas and strategies on how to get paid doing what you love.

Happy Holidays!

Jay.

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