{"id":12048,"date":"2012-12-11T04:47:46","date_gmt":"2012-12-11T12:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=12048"},"modified":"2013-09-23T12:17:20","modified_gmt":"2013-09-23T20:17:20","slug":"the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/","title":{"rendered":"The One Way to Value Experiences Over Stuff This Holiday Season"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

<\/a><\/p>\n

Everyone talks about it, but hardly anyone is able to stick to it.\u00a0We all want to make this holiday season more about love than about gifts. Why is actually doing it so much harder than we thought?<\/p>\n

Gift-giving has been part of our society from the time we were born. Most of us grew up with the anticipation of a mountain of gifts arriving near the end of the year. Whether we behaved well or flunked a few grades, the gifts were a comfortable and exciting respite from the rest of the year.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I’m 26 years old, and I don’t live at home anymore\u00a0\u2014 but, early Christmas morning, my mother still wakes up in the middle of the night to put out gifts in hopes of a morning surprise. I wake up in my house down the street and rush over as soon as I open my eyes, joining my siblings and parents in all out gift-unwrapping extravaganza.<\/p>\n

When I look back at all the holiday moments I’ve spent this way, I started thinking…<\/p>\n

Why do we express love through material goods?<\/h3>\n

About a year ago, I discovered the phenomenon of\u00a0showing love through food<\/em>. I had fallen victim to this my entire life, but I had never become\u00a0aware<\/em>\u00a0of the situation. Why do we bake cakes for friends or bring home some chocolate for mom? I’ve been guilty of this so many times<\/em>, but I never realized it was a habit that isn’t healthy for anyone!<\/p>\n

Why build a habit of equating food with love?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

After I became aware of what was happening, I was able to more closely identify when it was happening and stop it in its tracks. I don’t want to equate giving love<\/em>\u00a0with giving a dangerous sugar-high<\/em>, so I started removing food-related gift-giving and started giving more books, instead.<\/p>\n

This got me thinking, though\u2026 If it’s not food, why books or other material goods?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The running shoes my husband gifts me don’t make me love him any stronger. Kind words and support in the important moments are much more meaningful to me.<\/p>\n

The new iPhone case my dad picked out for me is beautiful and thoughtful, but it’s his advice and fortitude that I cherish most.<\/p>\n

I know I’d rather have a hug than shoes, so why have I always shrieked with glee when opening gifts?<\/p>\n

Give that which will last forever.<\/h3>\n

They say that the last few moments before we leave this life, a person’s existence flashes before their eyes. We’ve heard this in stories, movies, and more.\u00a0What’s amazing is that we never stop to think that these flashes of memories never include scenes of material goods and stuff<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In general, the human being values experiences more than material goods\u00a0\u2014 we’ve just forgotten this somehow.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Through the mainstream media, we’ve been taught to follow a consumerist culture. We’re not onl sold iPhones and luxury handbags. We’re sold the happiness\u00a0<\/em>that comes along with owning them.<\/p>\n

In reality, human relationships thrive on experiences\u00a0more than goods.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I cherish the feeling of hitting a home run and running around the bases\u00a0\u2014 not the baseball bat I held in my hand.<\/p>\n

I cherish the feeling of finishing my first book\u00a0\u2014 not the laptop I used to write it.<\/p>\n

I cherish the feeling of gaining a lifetime partner \u2014 not the ring my husband put on my finger.<\/p>\n

In the words of Henry David Thoreau, “The value of any experience is measured, of course, not by the amount of money, but the amount of development we get out of it.”<\/p>\n

Gift experiences this holiday season.<\/h4>\n

Give memories. Gift the things that enrich the soul. Give that which will incite happiness and love.<\/p>\n

If we choose to change things up this holiday season, who could we make happier?<\/p>\n

Bio:\u00a0When Marcella Chamorro decided to quit her job to live every day as if it’s a vacation, she turned her attention to creating a lifestyle that is both meaningful and exciting<\/a>. Now (as an author, entrepreneur & speaker based in Nicaragua), Marcella guides those who want to quit their jobs, live their dreams, and live a vacation that never ends at The Perpetual Vacation<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all want to make this holiday season more about love than about gifts. Why is actually doing it so much harder than we thought? Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":12087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32,22,58],"tags":[582,404,2132,1027,1773,90],"yoast_head":"\nThe One Way to Value Experiences Over Stuff This Holiday Season - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Everyone talks about it, but hardly anyone is able to stick to it. We all want to make this holiday season more about love than about gifts. Why is actually doing it so much harder than we thought? Gift-giving has been part of our society from the time we were born. Most of us grew up with the anticipation of a mountain of gifts arriving near the end of the year. Whether we behaved well or flunked a few grades, the gifts were a comfortable and exciting respite from the rest of the year.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The One Way to Value Experiences Over Stuff This Holiday Season - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Everyone talks about it, but hardly anyone is able to stick to it. We all want to make this holiday season more about love than about gifts. Why is actually doing it so much harder than we thought? Gift-giving has been part of our society from the time we were born. Most of us grew up with the anticipation of a mountain of gifts arriving near the end of the year. Whether we behaved well or flunked a few grades, the gifts were a comfortable and exciting respite from the rest of the year.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-12-11T12:47:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-09-23T20:17:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Screen-shot-2012-12-11-at-9.51.42-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"499\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"331\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Falconer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Screen-shot-2012-12-11-at-9.51.42-PM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Screen-shot-2012-12-11-at-9.51.42-PM.png\",\"width\":\"499\",\"height\":\"331\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/\",\"name\":\"The One Way to Value Experiences Over Stuff This Holiday Season - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-12-11T12:47:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-09-23T20:17:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\"},\"description\":\"Everyone talks about it, but hardly anyone is able to stick to it. We all want to make this holiday season more about love than about gifts. Why is actually doing it so much harder than we thought? Gift-giving has been part of our society from the time we were born. Most of us grew up with the anticipation of a mountain of gifts arriving near the end of the year. Whether we behaved well or flunked a few grades, the gifts were a comfortable and exciting respite from the rest of the year.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The One Way to Value Experiences Over Stuff This Holiday Season\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\",\"name\":\"Erin Falconer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Erin Falconer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The One Way to Value Experiences Over Stuff This Holiday Season - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"Everyone talks about it, but hardly anyone is able to stick to it. We all want to make this holiday season more about love than about gifts. Why is actually doing it so much harder than we thought? Gift-giving has been part of our society from the time we were born. Most of us grew up with the anticipation of a mountain of gifts arriving near the end of the year. Whether we behaved well or flunked a few grades, the gifts were a comfortable and exciting respite from the rest of the year.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The One Way to Value Experiences Over Stuff This Holiday Season - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","og_description":"Everyone talks about it, but hardly anyone is able to stick to it. We all want to make this holiday season more about love than about gifts. Why is actually doing it so much harder than we thought? Gift-giving has been part of our society from the time we were born. Most of us grew up with the anticipation of a mountain of gifts arriving near the end of the year. Whether we behaved well or flunked a few grades, the gifts were a comfortable and exciting respite from the rest of the year.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/","og_site_name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain","article_published_time":"2012-12-11T12:47:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-09-23T20:17:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"499","height":"331","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Screen-shot-2012-12-11-at-9.51.42-PM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_creator":"@pickthebrain","twitter_site":"@pickthebrain","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erin Falconer","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/","name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Screen-shot-2012-12-11-at-9.51.42-PM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Screen-shot-2012-12-11-at-9.51.42-PM.png","width":"499","height":"331"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/","name":"The One Way to Value Experiences Over Stuff This Holiday Season - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2012-12-11T12:47:46+00:00","dateModified":"2013-09-23T20:17:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5"},"description":"Everyone talks about it, but hardly anyone is able to stick to it. We all want to make this holiday season more about love than about gifts. Why is actually doing it so much harder than we thought? Gift-giving has been part of our society from the time we were born. Most of us grew up with the anticipation of a mountain of gifts arriving near the end of the year. Whether we behaved well or flunked a few grades, the gifts were a comfortable and exciting respite from the rest of the year.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-one-way-to-value-experiences-over-stuff-this-holiday-season\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The One Way to Value Experiences Over Stuff This Holiday Season"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5","name":"Erin Falconer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Erin Falconer"},"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12048"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}