Full attention can’t be wrapped or bought on sale, which is exactly why it’s the rarest present a person can hand over.

Everything else you could give somebody can be ordered, and most of the effort goes into choosing. Attention cannot be produced in advance or stockpiled, and while you are giving it you are not doing anything else, which is exactly what makes it register. People can feel the difference between being listened to and being waited out. It is rare because it genuinely costs something.

Give it away once deliberately this week. Twenty minutes, no phone in sight, one person, no plan to steer the conversation anywhere. You will find out fast how unusual that has become.