Whenever I receive a gift, I dread it. I believe I am someone who’s already well equipped and sorted, therefore, any additional item in my life is a waste of resources. I think I am hard to read as I am less likely to willingly share anecdotes and stories from my life. I undersell my passions and it’s hard even for my close friends to decipher what would be a gift that I would cherish.
I received an Echo Dot as a birthday gift last year. At first, I disliked it. I didn’t think it was worth opening as I was surrounded by technology and I had no use for it. Why add another intrusive robotic voice to my life? I was guilt-tripped into opening it as my friends who had sent the present wanted to know what I thought of it and whether it sparked joy in my life.
I gave in to my guilty emotions and unboxed the echo dot. A couple of months into it, I was in a dependent relationship with this spherical object. I had interwoven it into my life. It served as my disciplinarian, my newsreader, my music player, and my companion. I bought accessories (smart bulbs, smart plugs) to connect to it. My routine was now controlled by this device; It would wake me up, read me the news, switch on the bulbs with the preset hue and brightness, and play music which helped me focus. In the evening, when I was done with my long day of meetings, it would dim down the lights, remind me to unwind, and play soothing music. I knew I needed a taskmaster to help me figure out my routine. I visualized this taskmaster to be a human, not a robot.
The Gift was something I didn’t know I needed. It quietly transformed my life without a lot of effort on its part. I couldn’t be more grateful to my friends, albeit belatedly.
I don’t know if my friends believed I needed this intervention. I never asked them about the thought process behind the gift. However, it’s been a gift that’s improved my quality of life.
Inspired by this prompt: The Gifts that Stick