“Your core gift is the central and innermost contribution that will require both courage and heart For you to bring to the world”
Bruce Anderson
Do you know what primary gift you bring to the world?
Every person on the planet is a unique collection of skills, talents, gifts and one core gift. They lie on a spectrum that goes all the way from basic skills we need in daily life to talents that we have a natural ability for all the way to the central spark or core gift that gives our life purpose and stability through our darkest moments.
Why should you discover your gifts?
It can be an important way to get to know ourselves better and understand what we are good at and what brings us joy while doing it. Paying attention to our gifts and especially our core gift allows us to nurture and build on what we are already highly motivated to do. Our self-esteem grows. We recognized that our gift is connected to our purpose in life and we begin to look for new ways and places to use it.
Why should you want to know about other’s gifts?
Believing everyone has a gift and starting to look for this in others helps us to understand and be more compassionate with the people in our lives. We also begin to see the world around us through the lens of gifts. In a healthy community, the gifts of every single person are valued and needed but it can take time and effort to make these connections.
How do you find out what your core gift is?
One way is to have a core gift interview done. It is a series of 19 questions which are thought provoking but not intrusive. An experienced interviewer will help you to sort through these answers to come up with a core gift statement.
Developing a culture of gifts at Community Living St. Marys
As an Association, Community Living St. Marys and Area wants to honour and promote the gifts of the people we support, our employees and our community. One of the ways to do this is through the planning process. Another way is by offering core gift interviews to people we support, their families and all our employees and volunteers. We want to share information about gifts within our community so that it can welcome every citizen’s contribution. We have created a gift wall that showcases our core gifts and lets everyone know what we have to offer each other. There is a team of people who are trained to offer interviews and discuss new ways to use gifts.
The core gift interview was developed by Bruce Anderson of Community Activators and you can find out more about their work by the visiting the website at
