Before we kick things off, remember the most important things you can give away this year are not things at all. To really make a difference in your favorite people’s lives, focus on gifting your attention, your love, your positivity, your smiles and patience and thanks. Give the affirmation you’ve been holding back. Give money - as much as you can. And time - whenever you’re able.

Give all your joy away, and - you know this - you’ll get it back with interest. Someone is still wearing the smile you gave them last year. You’re entitled to the big, exploding-heart warmth that spreads through you when you give a selfless, carefully-considered gift. Allow yourself that feeling. Make every gift count. 

EXPERIENCES TO SHARE

It wasn’t that long ago that we were forced into isolation, denied proximity to family and friends and trying to communicate behind masks or inside Zoom squares. Now that we can be together again, take advantage. Give a chance to make memories that will last long after physical gifts have lost their shine.

Tickets to The Life of Pi at the American Repertory Theater, Cambridge

The American Repertory Theater in Harvard Square has a long-awaited treat coming. After a successful run in London’s West End, (it won five Olivier awards, including Best New Play), the stage adaptation of Yann Martel’s novel The Life of Pi arrives in the U.S.. Don’t miss your chance to see the North American debut of Lolita Chakrabarti's mesmerizing, multi-media stage adaptation, featuring stellar performance, puppetry and production design.

Spiritual, provocative and at times hilarious, The Life of Pi finds 16 year old Pi lost at sea in a lifeboat with a cast of animals from his father’s zoo. A story about faith, imagination and the resilience of the human spirit, The Life of Pi tickets make a magical gift.

Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge MA 02138
December 4, 2022 - Jan 29, 2023

Brake Run Helix at MA MoCA, North Adams, MA

I first experienced an EJ Hill coaster monument at Prospect 5 in New Orleans and it left me wanting more. Dedicated to lifting up the underrepresented through painting, sculpture and photography, and forefronting black joy as a component of social equity, Hill is an artist on the rise. With Brake Run Helix, he incorporates his obsession with roller coasters into his multidisciplinary oeuvre.

Brake Run Helix, now at MA MoCA in North Adams, is Hill’s largest solo exhibition to date, incorporating sculpture, performance, painting and “Brava.” With “Brava” Hill has realized his dream of constructing a working rollercoaster as part of the exhibit, and it’s a perfect reason to head west to visit the museum.

While you’re there, check out James Turrell’s C.A.V.U. (Skyspace) and Amy Hauft’s 700,000:1 | Terra + Luna + Sol.

Timed tickets are recommended. If you don’t want to spend the $20, a free community day is planned for January 28, 2023. MA MoCA is open Wed-Mon, 10am-5pm, and closed Tuesdays.

The Holiday Pops at the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Whether going for for the 1st time or the 50th, nothing spells the holidays in Boston like the Holiday P-O-P-S. Conductors Keith Lockhart and James Burton deliver a mix of traditional favorites and unexpected novelties, often including surprise guests on stage for readings, musical accompaniment or - well, you’ll have to go to find out. Dress up and go early for a glass of champagne or book the orchestra level where table service is available throughout the performance. And get ready to sing along to holiday classics including the crowd favorite “Twelve Days of Christmas.”

[Splurge idea!] Book ahead for the 2023 Aspen Ideas Festival, Aspen, CO

Want to take someone special to the place where that rocky mountain high leads to collective discourse about the key topics of our times? The Aspen Ideas Festival, run by the non profit Aspen Institute offers events, lectures, panel discussions and film screenings about “themes that speak to this unique moment in history.” Former speakers include everyone from Selma Blair to Common to Jeff Koons.

New themes guide program tracks and speakers each year. 2023 tracks include "We the People," "Life Well Lived," "Fueling the Future," and "Defining Economic Recovery." The 2023 festival will take place from June 21-30. Register before December 31 for an early bird discount.

PRODUCTS WITH PURPOSE

Ideas for those hard to buy for but have to buy for and want to buy for people on your list. Sometimes stuff is the stuff.

Lingua Franca’s We won’t Go Back Collection

Lingua Franca has never been afraid to use their customers’ chests as billboards for change. Their ethically made cashmere sweaters are embroidered by women in NYC who earn a living wage. Significant proceeds from the purchase of many of their lines go to aligned causes, take their Facts First line from which $100 from every sweater goes to the Committee to Support Journalists. 

The We Won’t Go Back Collection embraces the slogans that define the abortion rights movement of this moment. 1973, the year the Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade, establishing the constitutional right to abortion has become a rallying cry for a movement outraged by a backwards court. Other slogans include Roevember and We Won’t Go Back.

Ashley Longshore’s Thought Jars

The outrageous and fabulous Ashley Longshore rides a wild, aspirational wave on the crest of pop art, retail and activism. Self taught and fearless, she pushes all the boundaries: humor, taste, color and genre, and the zeitgeist is better for it. Her trippy portraits of fashion icons and partnerships with the likes of Ken Fulk, Judith Leiber and Gucci have made her that rare hybrid of art world and social media darling.

Spend some time thinking about which friends need a Thought Jar this year. Vasectomy or Divorce Money? Only you know whose nut balls belong in the jar.

Kehinde Wiley Death of St. Joseph Basketball, Black Rock Senegal

Hopefully you had a chance to catch the Obama portraits when they made an exhibition stop at the MFA Boston recently. If you did, you experienced the astounding mastery that is Kehinde Wiley’s painting: grand in scale, rich in texture, glowing in skin and transcendent through art and social history.

If you don’t have a few hundred thousand to spend on a Wiley painting, how about a custom designed basketball featuring one of his images? In 2019, Wiley created a multidisciplinary artist-in-residence program in Dakar, Senegal. Black Rock Senegal invites artists to live and work at Wiley’s coastal compound for 1-3 month residencies, incubating creative production and provoking intentional global discourse about Africa. The Kehinde Wiley Collection also includes towels, scarves and apparel, but the basketball is a slam dunk for those impossible (but deserving) guys on your list.

A glam sweat from Brother Vellies

A nominee for CFDA’s 2022 American Accessory Designer of the Year, Aurora James is showing the fashion industry what it looks like to do things her way. Since 2013, when she launched Brother Vellies, James has grown the brand slowly and carefully, retaining complete ownership and creative control. As a woman of color in a male dominated industry, this is admirable on its own. But the self described “restless” designer has made it her mission to keep her brand sustainable, employ local artisans from around the world and use locally sourced materials. Best of all, she makes all her customers look as good as they feel.

For your rock star tennis partner who’s had it up to here with Lululemon, the Negril Tennis Club tote, She Should Run hoodie and Brother Vellies tennis balls in pink are no brainers. While you’re at it, pick up the cute Joggers in Sunbird for yourself. You’ll look amazing running yourself ragged this season.

[Splurge Idea] Custom Installation by Nancy Winship Milliken Studio

The ephemeral, site specific, sculptures that has made Nancy Winship Milliken a favorite artist of places like the DeCordova Museum and Shelburne Farms in Vermont, would be up there with what I would ask for if I could ask for anything. Sensory, kinetic and full of grace, the outdoor sculptures, made from materials like wool, beeswax and horsehair, move when the wind moves and bring meditative attention to the blue of the sky and the blades of grass on a hill.

The studio’s collaborative works express a “reverence for the land, humans, and animals” and are each made to honor the land on which they sit.

https://nancywinshipmillikenstudio.com/

Give a Farm Animal from Heifer International

Does your nephew really need another Lego set? Does your college bestie really want that overpriced candle that makes the house smell like cake batter, or worse? (Please God, let Gwyneth Paltrow’s vagina candles never be a thing again). Wouldn’t they rather receive a gift of a cute animal that can transform the life of a person living in poverty?

Heifer International places farm animals with families in remote parts of the globe and trains them to care for and breed them, aiding their path to a self sufficient future. Water buffaloes in southeast Asia, goats in India, alpaca in the Andes Mountains of South America, a flock of chicks in Guatemala, there are many animal gifts to choose from through Heifer’s website.

The gift of an animal provides families with nutrition, money from the sale of milk or wool and ultimately an education for children. Other benefits: all gifts to Heifer International are tax deductible and a portion of donations are used to raise awareness about global hunger and poverty.

Happy Holidays from Misstropolis!

*Cover photo image by Elena Mozhvilo for Unsplash.