I don’t know about you, but personally, I’m not very big on “stuff”.

In life, I’m not the type of person who wants for very much by way of possessions. Sure, I’ve been known to loudly exclaim “OMG, WANT!” (or some variation thereof) at the sight of something cool/unique/cute/life-changing, but given the chance to actually procure the desired item for myself? I can almost always convince myself of better use for the money.

I’m no better off when it comes to receiving gifts. Asking me what I want for Christmas or birthdays is generally a quite fruitless endeavor, so much so that my friends and family are usually forced to get creative when ticking my name off their gift-giving lists. Sorry about that, guys.

But as it turns out, my friends and family are all very creative people (whether they realize it or not).

It is for this reason that I rarely receive a gift that is not, in one way or another, extremely memorable and always thoughtful.

For example:

This year my friend, Candice gave me a pair of mittens…

Mittens that she altered herself so that the thumbs come off…

… So that my hands can stay warm whilst I continue to succumb to my ridiculous addiction to tweeting via my Blackberry.

Yes, she’s an enabler, but she’s a thoughtful enabler.

These are my favourite kinds of gifts – not the pricey show-stoppers but the meaningful tokens that seem to embody the bond between the giver and yourself.

As mentioned in my last post, my brother gave me a copy of “They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children”, not because I asked for it, but because he knew how important the issues of child soldiers (and the work of Romeo Dallaire) is to me. On the cheekier end of the spectrum, another friend combined my love of wine and my affinity for Disney and got me a Mickey themed opener and stopper set (which is, in a word, AMAZING). Not just anyone would appreciate a gift like that, folks (I sense a number of you nodding gravely).

And a gift unlike any other? A friend I went to university with sent me a poem.

But not just any poem: a re-imagining of “The Night Before Christmas”.

With velociraptors.

Not only was it mind-blowing in its own right but it was also pretty much our whole friendship in a nutshell (a horrifying nutshell that rhymes).

Do you see what I mean when I say that they’re all exceptionally creative?

I feel like I always get memorable gifts, but what I love them most about them is what each one tells me about my relationship with the person that gave it to me (I sense some of nervously tugging at your collars, wondering what kind of a friendship I have with mister Michael Crichton the poet. We just really like dinosaurs, okay?)

I feel so lucky to have so many brilliant people in my life. People that know me so well (sometimes better than I know myself) and embrace what they see. People whose love and friendship inspires me to embrace the person I am too, and people that let me return the favour.

And that, dear reader, is the best gift I’ve received this year.

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This post is part of the #reverb10 series – an online passion project that provides daily blogging prompts to encourage participants to “reflect on this year and manifest what’s next”. Sound like fun? It is. So what are you waiting for? Get your Reverb on!