The Gift of Nothing

On my desk upstairs in my office, I have a tiny little white box tied up nicely with a red ribbon.  You can actually see it in this picture which is on the house tour page of the blog. See it in the bottom right of this picture?

Let’s take a closer look.  It is one of my favorite gifts of all time.

Do you want to take a peek inside? My mom gave it to me a few years ago.  And it has stayed on my desk ever since.

And it has nothing inside.  You see, one of my parents traditions for many many years was to read the comics in the Dallas Morning News every night before bed.  They would laugh and share in the ‘funnies’ together.  One of those comics is Mutts (check out the Mutts website here).  The author of that comic strip also wrote a book called The Gift of Nothing. Where (SPOILER ALERT!!) the cat Mooch gives his friend the dog Earl Nothing for Christmas.  Because he had a bowl and a bed, so he had everything!

So one year my mother wrapped up a box in pretty white paper and a red ribbon and gave it to us with a copy of this book to remind us of the nothings to be grateful for.

I think at Christmas (but really all throughout the year) we all need reminders to value the nothingness that we need.  Sometimes to me it means to value the fact that I have food and a bed, and I truly need for nothing.  Sometimes that little box reminds me to take time to ignore my to do list and just do nothing.  But no matter what that little box on my desk ALWAYS reminds me to be grateful for what I have and appreciate the little things.

I wish all of you get the gift of Nothing this Christmas.