@EffectiveArtistry @adhdmarie 16:00 "and I'll say I might not be the best source of advice on this because I don't really get #GiftGiving as a concept" (if I misquoted please let me know, I sometimes do that)

Thinking about why we give gifts to each other 👍

In many group meetings people would give stuff to each other. I would be the regular who didn't give gifts...still they accepted me even if I was the only one not giving gifts. I wanted to give gifts but didn't know "how to make it good". A risk is somebody might dislike my gift, which can lead to a lot of #worrying.

in my life perhaps I've given very few gifts in my life.

I remember giving a neighbor a mug once cause I was invited and assumed that people would be bringing gifts as a sort of "non-neurodivergent cultural thing"(btw back then I hadn't even been diagnosed yet so even knowing about my #Autism wasn't a thing yet)

Now I tend to think that gift giving may make sense in specific circumstances...

ie. if I'm in a bad relationship with somebody and I try to fix it(ie. through an apology for bad behavior I've done to them) so I may start with a gift to "open up dialogue" and then talk to them hoping that they are more receptive after getting the gift to have the dialogue I seek with them.

To be honest this has been a way for others to reach me. I noticed their gift and then we started talking or they sent a gift in order to open up dialogue and they contacted some mutual acquaintance and then later I realized "ok this person wants so badly to talk with me now that they are sending me gifts and talking with mutual acquaintances...ok, I guess I'll talk to them".

Sometimes it can even be that they feel that I'm mad at them...
(in a similar way I can sometimes think that somebody else is mad at me, and I may blame it on that they are not replying to me when I'm in a #BadMood)