Dear kindred friend,

I don’t know about you, but I can feel the hustle and hurriedness of the 2022 holiday season quickly approaching, can you?

It’s both welcome with the excitement and anticipation it brings, and also with tinges of anxiousness. What to say yes to, what to say no to, what to gift, how to gift, how to stay in budget, and how to be present amidst the season. And also, how to gift well and not be consumeristic, how to support local without breaking the bank? How to love our friends and family and be mindful of the world around us?

Oof, even writing it all out fills me with tension. Do you feel this tension too?

Theme of giving back

This year’s gift guide theme is giving back.

While yes, this gift guide is full of delightful small businesses and owners that have hearts of gold and missions of depth (ones that I think are worth supporting), this gift guide is also an opportunity to live into the tension we talked about above. Let me explain.

This gift guide is a resource and round-up of great gift ideas and also a resource and round-up of some incredible nonprofits and charities that the various small business owners support and are passionate about.

Why does that matter?

Because while there is an invitation to support a small business, there is also a simultaneous invitation to consider how you can give back to the community and world around you; to think beyond our own comfort and bubbles.

This world and life is full of living in tension and balance, and while I can’t figure out how to do that exactly for each one of us, this guide is one tangible realistic way of how we can do that.

Supporting small without paying

As always, I never want someone to walk away from our guide feeling they have to buy something to support. No small business owner I’ve met ever wants someone to purchase out of obligation, but only because they desire to. With that being said, there are numerous ways to support small businesses without having to purchase. I’ve included a list of ways to do so at the end of the guide, as suggested by small business owners themselves.

Click the below link to get your gift guide! Use the image above/below to share this with others you think would love to read about these businesses and live into the tension of “both and”.

Small Businesses list

I have also included a list of all the small businesses included this year below for ease – business name | website | Instagram handle.

27teas | https://27teas.com/ | @27teas

C&C Holistic Living | http://www.candcholisticliving.com/ | @ccholisticliving

Earthside Candles | https://earthsidecandles.com/ | @earthsidecandleco

Frootful | https://www.etsy.com/shop/FrootfulCo | @FrootfulCo

Hopefolio | https://www.hopefolio.com/ | @photohope

kNICHE | www.knichegoods.com | @knichegoods

Kindred & Co. | https://www.etsy.com/shop/KindredandCoBoutique | @kindred.and.co

The Miraculous Journey of Books | https://brittanydahl.com/ | @themiraculousjourneyofbooks

Narrative Forth | www.narrativeforth.com | @narrativeforth

Sarah Emma Boutique | sarahemmaboutique.etsy.com | @SarahEmmaBoutique

Scribbles by Sarah | https://www.etsy.com/shop/ScribblesBySarahV | @scribblesbysarahv