It's birthday season at my house: last week mine, this week my daughter's. I had so much fun choosing a pile of small token gifts for her, and a series of whimsical greeting cards, as part of a campaign to counteract the loneliness of living far apart. I remember reading that people have as much pleasure from an experience of service as they have from food or sex, and I can believe that. It was pure fun to look around with her sister for little things that might please our Elizabeth.
The ladies of my quilting group had a party for me, with food, wine, cards and gifts. Then my other friends and family had a second party for me, with food, wine, cards, flowers, and gifts. The gifts were ALL things I liked, the flowers were beautiful (red roses from my husband, red gladioli) the affection and kindness were true.....and I realized I was slightly uncomfortable to be the recipient of so much straightforward affection!
I wonder if the prospect of a gift economy stirs up similar cultural self-doubts among those of us who have spent so much of our lives in the current dominant economic paradigm? Can we learn to trust each other to be about so much more than "the commercial grab"? We were mesmerized and joyful at the rescue of Chilean miners, and at the peaceful Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. This year I am studying "trusting" as a possibility in life!
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