@giving
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For me, receiving is so much harder.
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I grind my teeth at night, something fierce, and so I have to wear a splint or a night guard, depending on what you call it, and I have to inevitably get it replaced every few years because I crack it, snap pieces off of it, et cetera. And so the last time I had to get it replaced, I was not in a financial situation that I once was in, but I knew I needed it
I don't want to say that it's a wrong to receive, but I think it's easy to slip into that thinking when we have heard this phrase so many times, not to mention how many other factors in our lives have led us to believe that we should give rather than receive. And you can't really give anything you if you're not open to receiving, right? Because who's giving to receive, then we could argue that point. But anyway, hopefully you get what I mean
But at the same time internally, I'm always filling those bits and pieces of guilt, but I have no problem giving gifts. I have no problem giving really well thought out gifts, too. I have no problem being that person who pays for someone's groceries if they are unable to pay for it
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@SwellΒ Β·Β 0:15
But now, like this Christmas, I crocheted a blanket for her, and to me it felt good to be able to do that. It was something I created that I loved the final product. I loved the process of it, and I loved that I was giving it to my friend, and I knew that she would appreciate it. And in that moment, she was so overwhelmed. She cried. I cried, and she's thanked me multiple times since then
I just remembered part of a conversation that we had here on Swell around Christina time. It's in the tail end of a thread. Georgie and I are discussing gift giving, and it sort of elaborates on this a different way. If you have any interest in it, I'll just include a link here
And so I wonder if it's not just about how society labels gifts, but perhaps it's also about how women are raised because I think that I often feel guilt not just in that sense of when I receive the gift. But it's about this feeling of worthiness. And you mentioned it to just when you were talking about gift giving a gift to your friend and how that concept of worthiness kind of really goes hand in hand with guilt
But I really think you're on to something here with respect to this topic. I mean, sometimes it's hard to expect or believe that we are, quote, unquote worthy for, say, a raise or a promotion of some kind. And that's not as it doesn't hit you in the heart the way friendships do
So users who are already here can click it and it will take you to the other side of where you can reply. I'm going to put the second kind underneath my response here and then you can click on the two of them and see how they are different. Both options are under the same menu. I believe the one that you used is under the option share there's like small Gray text next to it. That explains it a little more clearly than my attempt
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