Although it’s nearly Valentine’s Day, I am still thinking about Ebenezer Scrooge’s famous words to the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in Charles Dickens’ classic novella, A Christmas Carol.  Confronted with his future prospects, after reviewing his past deeds and their present consequences, Scrooge sees a pressing need to change his ways and fervently vows, “I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.” 

January often finds us likewise eager to change.  “New year, new you,” after all.  We want to throw out all our old, mediocre habits with the festive wrapping paper and show up as shiny and sleek as the new tech gadgets we just unboxed.  Or, at very least, we want to install a brand new operating system in ourselves, one that finally fixes all the bugs in the past versions, and put on a new screen protector, free of cracks and dents. 

There is, of course, value in evaluating our habits, systems, ways of thinking, and relationships for ways they are not serving us and course-correcting. Winter itself demonstrates the value of letting old things die to make space for new ones to grow in the spring.  And the holiday season is often marked by excesses that must be reined in.  

But it’s important not to throw out the baby with the bathwater, so to speak. Part of what makes the Christmas season so magical is the giving spirit that permeates it, a tendency toward greater “peace on earth, goodwill to men,” a turning outward and a collective generosity.  These are virtues that Scrooge promised to keep and foster throughout the year as part of his change of heart. 

So how do we couple the tension of self-discipline and productive change AND maintain a spirit of warmhearted generosity? 

Part of the present answer for me is to cultivate a giving heart by focusing on giving small, simple gifts–gifts that require little or no tangible items or costs, gifts that can be given spontaneously or with minimal forethought, gifts that replenish both the giver and the receiver.

I intend to track my efforts to change over time, but I want it to be less of a checklist item and more of a scavenger hunt… how, or to whom, can I give a small, simple gift today?  

I have begun brainstorming ideas falling under various themes, and since I have learned that I do a little better at achieving my aims with some outer accountability (#obliger, thank you Gretchen Rubin), I have decided I would like to share some of my simple gift ideas here each month. They will be open-ended, and easily customizable to personal circumstances. 

Tomorrow I will post my first simple gift suggestions. If you are inclined to join me, I’d love to hear about the simple gifts you give and receive in the comments. I harbor a belief and a hope that a lot of little kindnesses will add up to something great over time in our lives. 

Here’s to keeping Christmas in my heart this Valentine’s Day, this Independence Day, and this Halloween.  Are you in? 

“I’m so small,” said the mole. 
“Yes,” said the boy, “but you make a huge difference.” 
Charlie Mackesy 
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse