The simplest gifts are the best ones; a thought spoken so often yet continues to remain true to this day, why this is the case is a difficult concept to grasp. After all humans by their very nature are complex beings & in the 21st century we are taught to toil over our work so we can splash our cash on the latest gadgets & gismos, gifts which are far from simple. ` Yet my best gift & most treasured possession by far was a handmade, created from scratch card made by my friend for the Eid celebration.
The card itself was made of green paper & had the words Eid Mubarak fashioned from multi colored letters. Inside the card was a picture from the holy mosque in Makkah & few short sentences aimed at wishing me a happy Eid. The most important aspect of this card was that it was gifted to me by a friend who wasn’t Muslim, thus it was clear to me that time, effort & research had gone into what I would otherwise consider a humble gift, the hug I gave my friend on receiving the card could not have been more heart-felt.
In retrospect & reflection it is apparent to me that it is not the size or the price tag of the gift that determines a person’s attitude towards a particular item, rather it is the time, love & dedication the giver of the item has for the receiver. Returning to why the simplest gifts are usually the best leads us to some particular intersecting discussions. Yes, we have established that the effort taken to make a gift is probably proportional to the love the receiver will have for it. Yet, this is probably truer today than it ever was. Monarchs are historically more renowned for receiving priceless jewelry.
Alliances between nations and sometimes mercenaries were forged on a cleaning surface of a gold coin. The Trojan horse, possibly the most famous gifts of all time was no humble off rank yet today we can bring smiles to the face and tears to the eyes with a simple crafted card. Reasons for this are no doubt complex but I would think that one of the contributing factor is the application to the gift that something everybody in the 21st century appears to lack that is to say people nowadays with their busy and bustling lives to not have the time required to apply themselves to a gift, it is a lot easier in this day and age to buy a Rolex watch.
Similarly with everybody engrossed in their own activities and struggles it breaks from tradition to show thought for somebody else hence we treasure things when we appreciate the difficulty required in making them. In conclusion it is important to remember simpler by no means equals easier. Rather it is the difficulty required to make a simple gift that appeals to us and makes it the best gift.
