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| Sunday, 22 December 2002 |
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Gifts unravelled
What should one give his or her loved one? The answer isn't all that important. After all, what a person chooses is his personal choice. But in choosing what he chooses, he may be revealing more about himself than he would wish the outside world to know. For, looked at it from a psychological point of view, there is definitely more to gifts than the simple idea of giving or even of sharing. To delve into it is to open up a whole Pandora's box of fascinating insights, not always pleasant. For every gift, like every action, has an interpretation, which reveals to the outside world more than what one would like to reveal of himself and of what he thinks about the recipient. Psychologists claim that everything about a gift - shape, size, colour, material - tells a story of its own, peeling away the layers of civilised veneer of man to reveal his true personality. Flowers are generally accepted as a symbol of love and caring. But a whole lot depends on the colour and the kind of flowers. Red can be especially construed as a symbol of love, and pink, as wanting to create a cheerful atmosphere. Yellow is a mark of jealousy. A bouquet of mixed flowers would means the giver wants the other person to be happy. Mixed bouquets are often given to those who are convalescing after an ailment, to those who are in hospital or to somebody who is returning after a holiday. The bouquet is meant to cheer a person and make her happy. Lingerie basically indicates a sense of fun. A man giving it to a woman may indicate he wants to have some fun that does not have any strings attached. It could also mean the man is treating the woman as an object. The gifts a person choose indicate the character of the person and also the mood he or she is in, when out shopping. Red indicates love and sex, black a depressive mood and white, a mark of respect. Green also indicates respect, while blue denotes peace. Yellow is the colour of jealousy. These colours combined with the type of gifts can, to a certain extent, expose a person's nature and his intentions. Gifting a man with a tie would indicate that a woman wants to marry him, or have something intimate in mind. Giving a pen also makes him arrive at the same conclusion. If a woman gifts a pen to a mean it means she wants a physical relationship. But if a man gives one to a man, to someone who is not a writer and has not much use for it, psychologists claim, it could indicate latent homosexuality. It could be the same when a woman gives it to another woman, other than to one why really needs it. Psychologists describe perfume as a sensitive gift, and say that people would not often give perfumes without knowing the choice or preference of the other. Giving perfumes, many believes, could also be construed as a goodwill gesture, but more often, it is not. When a woman gives a gift of perfume to another, it is often a sign of friendship, a show of consideration where one wants the other to be happy. But in certain cases, it could indicate something deeper even a relationship. If it is something exotic like musk, and if a woman gives it to a man, it means she wants more pleasure from him. If it is mild and something flowery, it means she wants to be gentle with her. Of course all this could be dismissed as psychological mumbo jumbo and discarded without a second thought. After all, it is the thought that counts. But then again, in psychology, it is the thought that makes all the difference. So when you go out and buy a gift this Christmas, think for a minute.... Are you just buying a gift, or are you revealing something important about yourself. - Hana Ibrahim |
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| Produced by Lake House |
It probably began with the Three Wise Men who
came bearing gifts to visit baby Jesus. Or may be even before that. With
the Neanderthal man who dragged in a dead something or the other for his
Neanderthal woman. When is not the issue, but come Christmas, gift giving
becomes a dominant topic in every working person's conversation. And as
that magical date draws closer, the urgency intensifies.
