{"id":1498,"date":"2013-12-14T10:45:58","date_gmt":"2013-12-14T18:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/?p=1498"},"modified":"2013-12-14T21:37:43","modified_gmt":"2013-12-15T05:37:43","slug":"1498","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/2013\/12\/14\/1498\/","title":{"rendered":"Love of Giving Reduces Holiday Stress"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Are you having fun with your holiday gifting adventure?<a href=\"http:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/2013\/12\/14\/1498\/ss-having-fun\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1509\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1509\" alt=\"SS having fun\" src=\"http:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/SS-having-fun.jpg\" width=\"166\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/SS-having-fun.jpg 166w, https:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/SS-having-fun-124x150.jpg 124w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 166px) 100vw, 166px\" \/><\/a>\u00a0It&#8217;s true that giving as an \u201cexpectation\u201d sucks. So, how do you get in the mood? You know, the one where you feel all warm and generous? In addition to a great glass of wine, \u00a0here are some ideas for feeling the love when you\u2019re stressed about holiday gifts.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine the person you are expected to present a gift to. If they don&#8217;t immediately engender waves of love, just feel love. You don&#8217;t need an object of love to feel loving. \u00a0Next, think about them from head to toe in terms of what might be a great gift within your budget. For example, see their head and face in your mind. What works there? Hair clips, bows, hat, earrings, makeup, or nose hair clippers (just kidding).\u00a0 If you\u2019re flush with cash then by all means imagine their adorable backside seated comfortably in the new Lamborghini. Work your way down their body until you get to those awesome polka-dot socks. Somewhere between head and toes you should feel a little flutter of excitement about one or more of the gifts you&#8217;re considering.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1516\" style=\"width: 177px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/2013\/12\/14\/1498\/images-3\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1516\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1516\" class=\"wp-image-1516 \" title=\"Credit: Institute of Urban Ecology, Los Angeles\" alt=\"Credit: Institute of Urban Ecology, Los Angeles\" src=\"http:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/images-3.jpeg\" width=\"167\" height=\"148\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/images-3.jpeg 239w, https:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/images-3-150x132.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 167px) 100vw, 167px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1516\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: Institute of Urban Ecology, Los Angeles<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Or think of the person in their favorite environment: Skateboarding, playing guitar, attending the theater, watching movies, listening to music, running, painting or rebuilding antique cars. What might you offer that acknowledges or supports them? Perhaps an art class, a visor, a photo album or cool edited movie of them skating, playing, or working on the car.<\/p>\n<p>Then there&#8217;s the &#8220;doing good&#8221; gift where you help someone clean out their closet and take things to Goodwill for them &#8211; like my daughter&#8217;s mother-in-law does for me. She&#8217;s the world&#8217;s best organizer and purger of duplicates, ha! \u00a0Some of my neighbors are too old to drive. I&#8217;m thinking of giving gift certificates for a &#8220;free ride&#8221; to a place of their choice.<\/p>\n<p>For us artist types, it\u2019s quite tempting to create a handmade item. I\u2019ve often given my kids paintings or poems I created just for them. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/2013\/12\/14\/1498\/images-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1510\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1510\" alt=\"Nordstrom Gift Card \" src=\"http:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/images-2.jpeg\" width=\"120\" height=\"80\" \/><\/a>They&#8217;ve always accepted graciously, but they might prefer a gift card this year.<\/p>\n<p>That said, a personalized gift <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">can<\/span> bring incredible joy. Here\u2019s what happened when I created a painting for one of my collectors to give as a surprise: <strong><em><a title=\"The Power of Gifts\" href=\"http:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/2010\/12\/25\/the-power-of-gifts\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Power of Gifts<\/a>\u00a0(click on the link).<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>What are you giving to yourself this year? I\u2019ve had my eye on a hand blown art glass sculpture that \u201cI have no room for.\u201d If I managed to acquire this piece, would I find a place for it? Of course. There\u2019s always room for more art if you put some pieces away, out of the light for a while. It\u2019s good for them to rest in the peaceful dark. Here\u2019s a post on how to manage your space for new masterpieces: <em><strong><a title=\"There\u2019s Always Space for Art You Love: 5 Tips to Expanding Your View!\" href=\"http:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/2012\/01\/24\/theres-always-space-for-art-you-love-5-tips-to-expanding-your-view\/\" target=\"_blank\">There\u2019s Always Space for More Art<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_155\" style=\"width: 226px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/2010\/06\/24\/82\/copying-georgia_tuned-1-300x201\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-155\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-155\" class=\" wp-image-155 \" title=\"&quot;Inspired by Georgia&quot; - by Susie Stockholm - watercolor \" alt=\"Inspired by Georgia\" src=\"http:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/Copying-Georgia_Tuned-1-300x2011.jpg\" width=\"216\" height=\"145\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/Copying-Georgia_Tuned-1-300x2011.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/Copying-Georgia_Tuned-1-300x2011-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 216px) 100vw, 216px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-155\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;Inspired by Georgia&#8221; &#8211; by Susie Stockholm &#8211; watercolor<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Some ideas for you:\u00a0<strong><a style=\"font-style: normal; line-height: 24px;\" title=\"Abstracts\" href=\"http:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/abstracts\/\" target=\"_blank\">Abstracts<\/a><span style=\"color: #333333; line-height: 24px;\">\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-style: normal; line-height: 24px;\" title=\"Floral Textures \u2013 Abstracts\" href=\"http:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/floral-textures-abstracts\/\" target=\"_blank\">Floral Textures<\/a><span style=\"color: #333333; line-height: 24px;\">\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-style: normal; line-height: 24px;\" title=\"City Signs and Textures\" href=\"http:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/city-signs-and-textures\/\" target=\"_blank\">City-themes\u00a0<\/a><span style=\"color: #333333; line-height: 24px;\">&#8211;\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-style: normal; line-height: 24px;\" title=\"RANGE of MOTION\" href=\"http:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/range-of-motion\/\" target=\"_blank\">Range of Motion<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>My personal wish is for you to have interesting and beautiful art in your homes and workspaces. If you fall in love with my paintings, I will do everything I can to help you acquire them. Click here to reach me: <strong><a title=\"Contact\" href=\"http:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\">Contact<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I wish you much joy as you gather with loved ones this season. \u00a0 Take deep breaths, find &#8220;loving&#8221; and enjoy yourself. Susie<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Feel the love of giving to reduce holiday stress<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-paintings-prints-collages"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1498"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1498"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1519,"href":"https:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1498\/revisions\/1519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artuitive.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}