Lavish — The Beautiful Case for Giving Too Much

"Is there something you genuinely love so much that you can't help going too far with it — more time, more care, more attention than anyone would call strictly necessary?"

Is there something you genuinely love so much that you can't help going too far with it — more time, more care, more attention than anyone would call strictly necessary?

That impulse has a name: lavish. And I'm here to argue that it's not as indulgent as it sounds.

Lavish means sumptuously rich, elaborate, or luxurious — or, used as a verb, to give in large amounts. You can lavish attention, praise, time, or resources. Something lavish exceeds the strictly necessary. It goes beyond. It is, by definition, more than enough.

The word comes from the Old French lavasse — a deluge, a downpour of rain. And there it is: lavish is abundance that falls from above. More than you expected. More than you planned for. The excess that makes something feel like a gift.

Now, lavish gets a bad reputation when it's paired with vanity or waste. A lavish lifestyle can mean someone who spends foolishly, confusing excess with meaning. Fair point. But lavish is morally neutral. What matters is what you lavish, and on whom.

A parent who lavishes time on their child. A teacher who lavishes attention on a struggling student. An artist who lavishes care on a work nobody may ever see. A cook who lavishes effort on a dinner for friends. These are not wastes. These are acts of love expressed as generosity — a refusal to do only the minimum, a decision to give the full, flooding measure of yourself to something that deserves it.

There's also something wonderful about people who lavish enthusiasm. Who can't help going overboard when they talk about the thing they love — recommending books, describing a city, explaining a film. It's slightly embarrassing. It's also completely wonderful. You always leave the conversation feeling like you've been caught in a warm rain.

Here's your question: What's something you actually want to be more lavish about — where do you hold back out of habit or fear when you could simply give more?