How Do You Wrap Your Gifts?

I love to wrap gifts.

There’s the selection of paper and ribbon. The logic puzzle of figuring out how much paper I need to minimize waste or the need to trim. The tactile experience of creating folds and creases in the paper. I delight in the sensory experience of handling a lush satin bow or the sound of the curling ribbon scraping the edge of the scissor. Attention to detail to line up the edges, and the game of using as little tape as possible while making sure everything holds together.

The little touches almost nobody notices. But I notice. And that’s enough.

The wrapping is a piece of art layered on top of the gift I have chosen for the recipient. It is an expression of myself and the love with which I give the gift.

Why Wrap Gifts?

The time, effort, and patience you invest in wrapping a gift is often unmatched in the unwrapping of the gift.

Inflows don’t match outflows.

If you ever watched someone tear open wrapping paper to get to what’s inside, you may have wondered why you even bothered. It certainly seems like a poor return on the investment you made in wrapping it.

Wrapping gifts can feel like a waste of time.

Creating An Experience

And, yet, who hasn’t delighted in the joy of receiving a beautifully-wrapped present?

Part of the joy in receiving a gift is in how it is wrapped.

The packaging or wrapping can turn a gift from a physical object into an experience.

The wrapping can enhance the gift and the experience of receiving, or it can detract from it.

Of course this is not lost on makers of consumer products. Packaging is a signal of value.

Presentation isn’t just an afterthought; it’s central to the experience. Wrapping can set our expectation for what’s inside. How we feel in the experience of something often influences our perception of its value.

Long after what’s inside the wrapping has ceased providing value we remember how we felt when receiving it or giving it.

Function often follows form. For better or for worse, appearances often do matter to get in the door.

The wrapping matters.

The Wrapping is Not the Gift

Toddlers can delight for hours in playing with the wrapping paper and ribbons. They aren’t the only ones who get caught up in the surface trappings.

How often are we seduced by slick websites boasting unsubstantiated promises, pretty faces and perfect bodies that offer no depth of character, or Instagram feeds that don’t reflect reality?

Nice packaging can belie a lack of substance within.

It’s crucial to remember that the wrapping is not the gift.

Once you’ve thrown away the paper you’re left with what’s inside the wrapping.

How Are You Wrapping Your Gifts?

Every day we give gifts to other people. Not just birthday gifts and holiday gifts, but the gifts of our talents and services and expertise.

How we wrap those gifts can influence perception of their value and whether we get in the door. And once the recipient unwraps the gift, once they come inside and see what’s in the box, we need to have substance to back it up.

How are you wrapping the gifts you give? What’s inside?

Only a baby delights in an empty box.