Giving Love

My dad used to hand-write specific, and often unrealistic, gift wish lists for his children to fulfill before every holiday. When I was in college, he asked me for a $30,000 pontoon boat.

And so, for much of my life, I didn’t particularly like the act of giving gifts. It felt dutiful.

But I’ve come around. Especially after I took a remote job — as a gifts editor, of all things! — I needed something to ground my relationships, despite the distance.

Gifting, I realized, is a tactile gesture of love and appreciation. It’s an authentic connection point where no digital analog exists: Dropping a cheap heart in a group chat pales in comparison with almost any IRL offering.

The act of selecting and giving a gift is really a vehicle for showing loved ones how you feel about them. It can be quite beautiful and moving.

But it’s also hard to do it well. (Just ask my stepdad, who has given me the same fire blanket twice.) The holidays only exacerbate that stress.

In the rest of today’s newsletter, I’ll offer some easy-to-follow advice I’ve picked up over the years, share a few of my all-time favorite gifts and show you where to start with Wirecutter’s extensive gift guide coverage.