Why The Best Gifts Are Experiences
When we were
kids, we loved waking up on Christmas morning because we loved seeing whatever
toys and gifts Santa Clause brought us, we had things to play with and even
things we could share with our friends or playmates on playdates or even have
favourite stuffed animals. However, once we get older and deal with the dark
and cynical world we live in, dealing with responsibilities and sometimes hard
expectations to fulfill and stress over getting ready, a lot of the magic can
be gone and sometimes receiving gifts for Christmas or on our birthdays aren’t
always as fun as they used to be. Sometimes we get too many gifts, some things
we either won’t use or sometimes we can get those things ourselves, although
sometimes certain gifts can be great if the giver was thoughtful, thinking of
the person’s best interests, whether it was bought at a store or handmade. Gift
cards can be good ones, so you can choose the things you like. As I’ve grown I
haven’t always like getting a lot of gifts because I usually get a lot of
things I don’t want or need, and it kind of makes my Christmases feel kind of
drab, though sometimes I still can get thoughtful ones like this panda oodie I
got from my aunt and uncle, (whenever I watch any Jack Black movie when the
weather gets cold, I like to wear it over my pajamas), these Disney pajamas my
friends from Ottawa sent me for Christmas or some ornaments I got from my
friends, like one of them got me a Nemo and Dory ornament, one got me a really
beautiful one that said, “Special Friends Warm The Heart,” and another one made
me an ornament that looks like my little Marly Mew.
I think
however that the best gifts one can receive whether it was for Christmas or
your birthday, are experiences, like tickets to see a play or a vacation
somewhere, they bring more joy and excitement than any material gifts can ever
give you. These experiences give you something to look forward to, a chance to
make another memory with a family member or a friend depending on who you share
this experience with and it can also give you an experience you will never
forget. Honestly, if an experience was the only gift I would be perfectly happy
with that, I wish for one Christmas I could go away, I would love to go to The
Disney Parks on Christmas, sure it could mean no presents but I could care less
about that, just being around a magical place with decorations, the characters
dressed so festive, and seeing a lot of families spend time together enjoying
the magic of Christmas, and that can make this feel like a real Christmas. I
also would love to spend it in New York sometime, seeing the Rockafeller tree
can be good enough for me. I have gotten experiences as gifts for my birthday
or for Christmas and I think they are some of my best ones yet because they
lead up to great times that turned into happy memories that will never fade. I
would like to share some of them on today’s story to give you the idea of why
experiences are better than any material gifts.
Matilda
When I was a
kid, one of my favourite books was Matilda by Roald Dahl, I would re read
certain chapters a lot, sometime later I found out about the 1996 movie
adaptation, starring Mara Wilson and Danny Devito, I was interested in it but
never took the time to see it until a few years later, I either caught some of
it on TV or watched it at my old nanny’s place and I loved it, it was funny
from the many pranks Matilda pulls on her parents from the superglue to the
blond hair dye or the classic bit with the Trunchbull and the newt, or the
paybacks she gets at the end, it could maybe be a bit intimidating or disturbing
from seeing adults mistreat and abuse children, the dreaded Chokey, Miss
Honey’s troubled childhood story, the Trunchbull forcing a plus sized boy to
eat a whole cake or pretty much any scene with the Trunchbull when she’s not
making people laugh, but there is still some heart, whenever Miss Honey is
loving towards Matilda from hugging her after freeing her from the Chokey,
inviting her to tea and assuring her that things will change one day and of
course the ending where Miss Honey adopts Matilda and we get a montage of the
two having fun together and getting the love and family they truly deserved.
Even to this day I still love it, I have the tape at home, I love it even more
when I learnt about what happened during production, (Mara Wilson’s mother was
suffering from breast cancer and Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman babysat Mara
while her parents went to the hospital and before her mother died, Danny sent
her a rough copy of the movie so she would go knowing her daughter’s movie was
going to go well, which is sad but sweet too!) I’m sure Roald Dahl would’ve been proud if he
were alive. So once I heard there was a Matilda musical, I was really excited
and hoped to see it when it would come to Toronto, I almost had an opportunity
when my school choir took a trip to Chicago, my music teacher thought about
getting tickets to the show for us to see but for scheduling reasons he
couldn’t, he did however try to give us tickets to see it in Toronto to make up
for it, which I deeply appreciate him for doing that, I sadly wasn’t able to,
but for everyone that did, I’m happy for and I hope they had a blast! However,
that Christmas, I had gotten tickets to see the play, and I was allowed to
invite a friend to join me, so I invited my best friend and we both really
enjoyed the show, we loved laughing at the Wormwoods’ stupidity and she would
quote the lines of some of the kids whether it was Lavender or Bruce. I find
the Matilda musical to be one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, though it took
long to see it, I’m so thankful I was still able to see it and with a great
friend too. I’m very happy that an adaptation of the musical is on Netflix,
that way those that didn’t get a chance to see the show can experience it, and
maybe those that did see it can relive it!
Shrek The Musical
When I got
Shrek Forever After on DVD, they showed some behind the scenes of the Shrek
musical, and I very soon got interested, so much so that I remembered the
Monsters Vs Aliens DVD also had some things about the Shrek Musical, that
special feature even included a couple of musical numbers, I kept watching “I
Know It’s Today” the song Fiona sings as she grows up in the tower, wondering
when her Prince Charming will come for her, and it had me wanting to see the
show, but I never spoke about it, until one day. When I turned 13, one of my
gifts was tickets to the musical and I got to invite a friend, I invited one of
my classmates to join me we enjoyed ourselves. It felt like you were seeing the
movie again as they recreate some classic scenes like Fiona’s singing blowing
up the bird or Shrek trying to scare Donkey away by roaring only for Donkey to
comment on how his breath stinks, and adding more to it like some nice musical
numbers, like Who I’d Be, a song that takes place in that part when Shrek opens
up to Donkey and the latter asks him who he wishes he could be and he ends up
revealing he wants to be a hero and be seen in a positive light, and it just
adds more to his character. The other songs are great too, like the song the
fairytale creatures sing, Freak Flag, where they decide to be happy with who
they are and stand up to Farquaad, and This Is Our Story where Shrek and Fiona
accept their imperfect selves and stop living by the book, and the show ends
with the cast singing I’m A Believer, even encouraging the audience to sing
along, it’s not everyday a stage play does that, it was a great way to end the
play! This is yet another show I really enjoyed seeing, I’m so thankful I got
it as a gift and got a friend to enjoy it with me, I’m very peeved that Netflix
removed it because it is another great way to relive the show, well, you could
see it on YouTube and maybe find the DVD. If you want to see a Broadway musical
based on a movie, this is one of your ones!
Ratatouille Concert
As my 18th
birthday was approaching, my mom had sent me a text telling me that the TSO
(Toronto Symphony Orchestra) was having a Ratatouille concert, that was kind of
like an early birthday present and I was thrilled and I got excited as the days
got closer. Once it was time, it was so cool to be able to see one of my
favourite Pixar movies and see the orchestra performing the score. Michael
Giacchino is one of Pixar’s go to composers, he’s done films like the
Incredibles movies, Up, Inside Out and even Toy Story Of Terror, the scores
he’s done for these projects have been effective and Ratatouille is no
exception. The scores vary from different moods, some of the music like Wall
Rat does make it sound like a rat scampering around the last bit captures the
beauty of the moment where Remy sees Paris, I think we can all agree it looks
so beautiful at night, especially when it lights up. He can also make the music
sound tense like when the rats have to escape from the old lady it gives you
the sense of urgency where you’re probably thinking to Remy, “Get out! Hurry!”
and of course, I can’t mention Ratatouille without mentioning the bit where Ego
gives his review, it’s such a cinematic moment and the beautiful music just
adds to it. The orchestra did an excellent job by capturing the music that
Giacchino did and it just made the experience of seeing Ratatouille in concert
a lot grander, heck I enjoyed myself so much that sometimes I like to pretend
to conduct whenever I watch the movie, I especially did it when I saw
Ratatouille at the Revue earlier this year. Plus, the composer looked really
young and yet she still did a great job conducting the orchestra to play the
music as effectively, perfect for a movie that shows us that anyone can cook,
no matter how impossible or bizarre it may seem. I had the pleasure of seeing Elf and Muppet
Christmas Carol concerts the last two Christmases, and I’m looking forward to
another possible movie concert, I’m sure it will be great!
Broadway
One Christmas I got a note that told me I had tickets to see Frozen and Mean Girls on Broadway in January of that year, it was quite exciting news. After a nightmarish flight to New York, from delays or cancelled flights and losing our luggage (we got it back the next day), we were able to settle down, and go out to dinner before seeing Frozen, we enjoyed it. The next day, after we recovered our lost luggage, we had a nice time sight seeing, we walked down Central Park in the snow, we especially loved seeing the fountain since we both love Enchanted and that was where the big musical number took place! After a really nice day we went out to dinner and got to see Mean Girls, I told her about some of the actors that were in the original movie and she was able to guess who the characters movie actors were, like she knew Ms. Norbury was Tina Fey’s character and she could guess Regina’s mom was Amy Poehler’s character too. Plus, when they said the school was Northshore High School, my mom whispered to me, “More like Etobicoke High School, since that was where the scenes that took place outside of the school was filmed, (one time I was making donations to the humane society and delivering a surprise for friends in Etobicoke, I at one point walked by the high school and it was so fetch! I even sat by the back building! I saw some kids playing there too!)
I’m happy to say my mom I think enjoyed it too and I’m glad, I’m
very thankful she was able to give me this trip and the chance to see two shows
I really wanted to see.
Disney Animation Immersive Experience
Another
Christmas gift I got one Christmas was when my dad gave me a ticket to the
Disney Animation Immersive Experience, one of the big buildings in Toronto was
having this event where you could experience the classic and current movies in
an immersive like room, surrounded by many clips and songs from these movies,
where you’re not just seeing the movies, you feel like you’re really there and
feel like you’re part of the magic. I had the pleasure of being able to see it
after Christmas, I wanted to invite my friend but she was hoping to see another
friend around that time so I figured that was a no and I understood how
important this was to her. So I went on my own and I think it went really well.
The moment I entered the building it was so amazing, I could see storyboards,
lessons on how to draw classic Disney characters like Mickey Mouse, or Donald
Duck, and even find a lot of merchandise, I bought myself a hat there in the
hopes that I would go on a Disney trip again someday and I would have the hat ready
when I would go. Once I went into the room, it played many musical numbers
like, Circle Of Life, When You Wish Upon A Star, Try Everything, I See The
Light and a Whole New World, they would either show different Disney clips or
even just the whole scene, like how there was an African background during the
Circle Of Life, on one side you can see the animals cheering or bowing and on
the other side, you could see Rafiki lifting Simba or see Zazu flying to
Mufasa, or in I See The Light, you could see the lanterns on the screens
everywhere, it felt like there really were lanterns surrounding you! Heck,
during Poor Unfortunate Souls, there were bubbles surrounding the room and even
when Show Yourself from Frozen 2 played, there were white bubbles, it just added
to the magic! It was even more amazing to be there and feel like a kid again,
just getting lost into the magic of Disney is enough to have a great time! It’s
even more amazing to see the children get into it too, whether they’re wearing
costumes or princess dresses, popping the bubbles or just running around, trying
to take part in the magic or getting excited to see these characters is just so
adorable, it’s good to see the new generation enjoy what a lot of us enjoyed
years ago when we were around their ages, once again proving that Disney is for
everyone, kids, teens, adults, elderly you name it and a lot of their movies
especially their classics will remain timeless!! it’s also nice to see older
people there too, showing that you’re never too old for Disney or for anything
you loved when we were kids, tell that to that witch who claimed that childless
millennials should be banned from Disney all because her bratty child had to
wait in line for a pretzel, if anyone should be banned it’s her! I had such a
great time, when my birthday was coming up earlier this year I spoke to my dad
and he was able to get some VIP tickets for me and my best friend and that
would be my birthday present, and it was a great one. Sure, the gift shop had
sort of gotten smaller since it was going to be going away in a month. I had
always wanted a Disney kind of birthday, and this was just the perfect kind, we
both love Disney and it was fun to get lost in the magic and to be able to
share another memory with my best friend made it all the more amazing. I’m very
grateful to be gifted those chances and they are memories that will never leave
me!
Hugh Jackman; The Man The Music The
Show
However,
I believe the best experience was the opportunity to see one of my favourites
live which lead up to the happiest night of my life! It was in December of
2018, I was going to meet someone to see a movie, I saw something on Instagram
and it said that Hugh Jackman was going to be going on tour, and he world be
coming to Toronto on June, I just couldn’t believe it! Hugh is one of my
favourite actors and I had dreamed to meet him someday and I figured this could
be the perfect opportunity. Sometime after my 20th birthday, I told
my parents about it, and they asked if that could be their birthday present for
me, I thought, “Okay!” As time went by, I remembered how much I wanted to see
him, in April, I had seen a couple of his movies on TV, like Kate And Leopold
or Flushed Away (catching the latter made me realize how much I wanted to see
him live, since that was my first movie he was in) and I had informed a few of
my online friends on Instagram, and by the middle of May, the tour had began
already and I saw videos of it my hope for it grew, I spoke to my parents about
it again. The next day, my parents had gone away for the weekend to celebrate
their anniversary and to play golf with their friends (my parents love/loved
golfing), I finally decided to watch The Greatest Showman on demand. I had
always wanted to see it after hearing some good things about it, from seeing a
video of Hugh Jackman sneaking into a sing along screening and also the
original yellow Wiggle Greg Page saying he enjoyed the movie on his YouTube
channel, (yes, two Aussies I crushed on growing up had inspired me to see this
great musical), but I never really found the time to do it, the excitement of
the concert was the thing that truly got me to do it. I enjoyed it and kept
listening to The Greatest Show especially one certain part on a loop.
Afterwards, my brother and I took a bus to see our grandparents in another part
of Ontario, and we passed by the Scotiabank Arena, that was where he would be
performing and I hoped with all my heart I would be there, after some time I
got a text from my mom telling me she got tickets to see him live, apparently,
she won some money and was able to use it to buy the tickets for some really
good seats. I was a bit surprised when she texted me, and it did take a bit of
time to react, but after some time, I just couldn’t believe it and got so
excited, as the days got closer, I got more excited and kept listening to the
soundtrack, to the point where I was able to sing along to some of the songs well,
and I even looked at Les Misérables since I knew he was going to be singing
songs from that too, so I could prepare. Once the day came, I was eager to get
ready, I took a shower before going to my hair appointment where I got my hair
cut and curled, wore a pretty dress and took off, if people saw me they’d
probably think I was going on a date. After I had dinner with my mom, we went
into the Scotiabank Arena, I took out the poster I made in the hopes that he
would see it, and we finally took our seats, I just got so bouncy and excited,
this nice couple had gotten their seats moved to the ones next to me and they
were really nice! At 7:15 pm, it was finally time, The Greatest Show was
playing, and the screens showed a slideshow of the many movie Hugh was in, then
the stage got dark and there he was, I was so happy! One of the screens was
closer to me and it was like I could see him up close, it felt so unreal! The
whole show was so awesome, Hugh sang many songs from The Greatest Showman and
Les Mis, he even sang Gaston (back in the 90s when he was doing stage shows, he
played Gaston in an Australian play of Beauty And The Beast) and also You Will
Be Found from Dear Evan Hansen (this is what made me want to see the show, I
even saw the movie on his birthday two years later). He even showed support for
Pride month and for Aboriginal Australians, shows how sweet of a man he is and
how he is making the world a much better place. He even sang songs from The Boy
From Oz, since he was in that show way back in the 2000s, he even danced with
an elderly woman named Pauline, I was totally jealous but at the same time,
very happy for her, she clearly had a great time! He even tap danced to songs
like Thunderstruck or September and ended off with him doing his classic
Wolverine pose! I sometimes held out my poster in the hopes that he would see
it, but for the most part no luck (I realize it was too big I apologize to
anyone who I might’ve accidentally poked with the poster), however, as the
concert was coming close to the end, Hugh sang From Now On, and I held out my
poster, soon, as he was singing, he saw it and pointed at it a few times and
then he said to me, “Yes, I see you!” I just felt so overjoyed, my mom had her
arms on me, the people around me were so happy, i had never been so much
happier since the day I saw the Nemo musical at Disney and Marlin’s puppeteer
came to me! Hugh has been entertaining me and made me smile since I was almost
8 years old, and to be noticed by him was felt so amazing, sure it was for ten
seconds but it was the happiest ten seconds of my life! Even as the last song
played, I still couldn’t get over it! Afterwards, I told my dad and brother,
once we flew to London to see my aunt and uncle I told them too, and when I
showed the YouTube video of Hugh singing From Now On in Toronto, once they
heard Hugh say those words, they lit up! Sure, the concert meant I would suffer
from Post Concert Depression afterwards because I missed him so much, and I did
end up losing my voice from singing and screaming so much, but it still was
without a doubt one of the best birthday gifts (as my mom confirmed when I
thanked her, she just said, Happy Birthday to me) I had ever gotten and I still
smile thinking about this day, I still have the poster I made in my room. Hugh,
thank you for this night, I hope one day I can meet you in person, thank you
for everything and hopefully give you the biggest hug I’ve ever given anyone,
just to show you my gratitude for making my life a lot more grander, but until
then, I will always remember this night forever and the times I saw you in The
Music Man and at when I briefly attended the TIFF premiere for The Son two
years ago (he might’ve seen my mini poster when I saw him). I also can’t thank
my mom enough, you gave me a great night I’ll never forget and I will always be
grateful for it, I wish she was there for the other times I’ve seen Hugh on the
other two things I mentioned but I know she’ll always watch over me and her
spirit might’ve been there those times.
These
experience gifts are some of the best ones I’ve ever received, they have
provided me memories and great times whether I was alone or with someone I
loved, they are moments that gave me something to look forward to and once
again a memory that will never go away, that’s why those beat any material
gifts I ever could get. I hope any of you readers will receive a great
experience as a birthday or Christmas present because they will provide you joy
and memories that will last forever.
What
experiences have you gotten as a gift, what was your favourite one? Feel free to
share in the comments!
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