Anytime I think of birthday gifts, the first thing that comes to my mind is the vivid mental image of Dudley Dursley's pink face screaming "How many are there?", "Twenty Six?! But last year..last year I got twenty-seven!"
We may not all be that crazy or even close, but I'm sure we love our gifts.
Getting gifts for birthdays has been one of the oldest existing traditions - worldwide. Right from Jesus receiving His Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.Have you ever wondered why we get gifts though?
Why check a gift horse in its mouth you ask? Or gift anything!
Good point.
However, curiosity got the better of me. So I went researching (Yes yes, a fancy word for googling), and I got 2 versions of the origins.
1. Some ancient Pagan belief that bad things happen most around big events, and big changes. The birthday being both - when someone turns to another age, they celebrate with gifts for good luck.
2. The second was a more psychological approach to it. Explaining that we humans are social creatures and gifting is the easiest way to instantly gratify someone. I agree.
Ah well, however way it came about, I love gifts as much as the next girl or guy. I sure am happy for this tradition!
Personally, my favourite gifts were when I was 17 and 27. Just realising that "7" connect there. For my 17th birthday, my mom convinced my dad that I was old enough to have my own vehicle, and I got a bike! When I turned 27, it's like everyone decided to go big. Someone dear gave me Twenty Seven purple gifts! Can you imagine that? Purple is my favourite colour, and he found 27 gifts in purple. My dad got me a laptop. Another friend was also hell bent on covering all the gifts on my list. That was one jackpot year.
I realised then that I prefer getting as many or as much as I can give back. Interesting isn't it? We dream of getting flooded with gifts, and when we do, we feel guilty. Humans :)
Have a good one!
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Someday's Dreamer
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