When I was still living with my parents, if I would ask my Mother if she would like any high tech cooking appliance for Mother’s day she would invariably return the question to me: would you like a cooking appliance for your Bday or your Xmas? The point she was making was that such a gift was not a gift for her, but for the household, as indeed the whole house benefited from her cooking.
As Mother’s day is approaching fast, I’d like to link back to the post I wrote for Xmas and a more conscious approach to gifts. Unfortunately, in the consumerism society we are living in, we are rushed to buy “A” gift for our Mum for Mother’s day whatever it is. But is does not have to be this way. We can take the time to think and have a more conscious approach to gift giving. As written in my Christmas post, think local and do as much as you can privilege small/local businesses to help your local community grow rather than feeding giants corporations. And do remember that if you do not have local shops, Etsy and Not on the High Street are full of independent traders proposing wonderful gifts. Those are just two of the most well know online shopping spaces but with the magic of Internet you can find gems, beautifully crafted and delivered to your home.
I made a small selection for you (please note that this post is NOT sponsored and this selection is just from my heart)
1 A beautiful silver necklace handmade in London
3 A bracelet made in Brighton from a vintage teacup
4. 5. 6.
4 A bird sculpture made from recycled Norwegian wood
5 An Artic twig bangle, made in the UK
6 A bag hand made for peace in Germany from upcycling army equipment, such as this Swiss army blanket
I would like also to link this post back to the post I wrote just a few weeks again on Simplicity and the non-material aspects of gifts in my Xmas post. Gifts can be much more than just things.
Experiences are as delightful!
An afternoon tea, on the rail would be a fantastic experience. You could take your Mum out for a cultural experience: a museum exhibition, opera, ballet, or even a movie will be a delightful moment shared. The gift of time whether it is yours (just being there for her) or you taking over some of her chores to ensure she can have me-time for massage, spa sessions is wonderful for any Mum. There are also many independent therapists (like myself) or teachers who offer vouchers, you can offer reflexology or reïki sessions, yoga lessons or any other self care services.
There are of course, millions of other possibilities. But please do remember that Mother’s day is not a day to “buy” a gift to your Mum, but rather a day to remember the important role of Mothers in our lives and in our society, which is often forgotten or diminished. Mothers all around the world have a hard job: raising the future and while the “Society” would like to make us believe that we can “Have it all”, the reality of it, is that it is not possible. There are always trades off, we might not see them, or realise there are here, but they are, ALL THE TIME. There will always be something suffering from the one more task Mothers are trying to squeeze in the day, being less sleep, not being able to have a couple of minutes for themselves, not having the time to prepare the next morning (meaning another rushing one), skipping those minutes of meditation…
So truly, if you do want to celebrate Mother’s day (and we should remember as well, that it is OK to not celebrate it, but this should be a complete different post), may be the most beautiful gift you could give is the one where you give her one day with no trade off, the gift of simplicity. A day where all the non-essential is put on hold and where she can focus on the things that truly matters to her, the things (material or immaterial) that will make her heart sing…
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