mrovka / iStock The Concord Free Press (CFP) operates under a tradition-smashing publishing model. It thrives on generosity rather than the profit margin, and hopes to build up personal values rather than the industry’s bank accounts. This month, the press publishes Zig-Zag Wanderer, a collection of short stories by award-winning author Madison Smartt Bell. It’s a book with two covers. Flip to one, open the cover, and read “Stories from Here,” tales set in the United States. Flop it over, open the other cover, and explore “Stories from there,” fictional reports from international settings in Haiti and beyond. But the flip-fl... posted on Mar 17 2014 (14,711 reads)

a whole lot more fun) than other transportation alternatives." No serious disruption of values there. When what used to be shared informally turns into a formal, commoditized transaction, we lose something. That something is subtle, so it’s easy to gloss over. But over time, it cheapens our human experience. We strip away our commons, and we forget how to value things without a price tag. The highest potential of sharing is when it embeds the transformative spirit of generosity. When kids share their favorite toy, or when we share a seat on a crowded bus, or when we share our public parks, the quality of connections can go quite deep. It’s one thing to get i... posted on Jan 22 2015 (21,421 reads)

of data that suggest that the more pro-social behaviors spread through social networks more rapidly and more virally. It takes a certain kind of statistical sophistication in certain kinds of data, but we now can make the case for it. If I express gratitude to Nipun in the moment with a tactile expression, we know he will go on to other interactions and be more generous. Then, we know that those people whom he has touched will go on to other interactions and be yet more generous. My act of generosity here now transcending individual face-to-face contact is producing more generosity downstream. You can just project that out. These are very viral processes that build up cooperative networ... posted on Nov 4 2016 (30,671 reads)

we know what the interconnections are and have a deeper appreciation for the processes that create these goods. The MOON: Yes. And even cellphones and computers contain rare earth elements mined from far away by workers who are exploited, if not enslaved… Ramos-Stierle: Yes, so then we have to humbly recognize how much we owe to others. The root of the wordahimsa mean more than nonviolence, or doing no harm, in Sanskrit. It also means having a heart so full of love, generosity and courage that you have no room for resentment or violence or hatred. With this kind of heart, it is no longer a challenge for you to break laws that are unjust because you’re obeyi... posted on Aug 23 2016 (17,303 reads)

have simply made it all too easy to forget gratitude’s importance. We need not settle for our present disconnection from the healing, life-affirming, and uplifting human experience of gratitude.  By engaging with the perennial wisdoms, we are reminded of our natural capacity to feel and express gratitude. Through conscious and sustained practice over a period of time, we can discover again how gratitude and all its related qualities—thankfulness, appreciation, compassion, generosity, grace, and so many other positive states—can become integrated and embodied in our lives.  And when people in great numbers choose to practice, integrate, and embody gratitude, ... posted on Apr 8 2017 (21,684 reads)

about what is really going on. And that can be very difficult. MS. TIPPETT: I want to draw this out a little bit just because I know people will be listening from the United States. And this place, you talk about discovering all the many subtle and not so subtle ways people have to signal which “here” they are from and not from. MR. Ó TUAMA: Totally. And that is where language is limited. Because language needs courtesy to guide it, and an inclusion and a generosity that goes beyond precision and becomes something much more akin to sacrament, something much more akin to how is it you can be attentive to the implications of language for those in the roo... posted on May 6 2017 (9,750 reads)

it’s been waiting for. For me, the most important part of the word Bozakmin is “min,” the root for “berry.” It appears in our Potawatomi words for Blueberry, Strawberry, Raspberry, even Apple, Maize, and Wild Rice. The revelation in that word is a treasure for me, because it is also the root word for “gift.” In naming the plants who shower us with goodness, we recognize that these are gifts from our plant relatives, manifestations of their generosity, care, and creativity. When we speak of these not as things or products or commodities, but as gifts, the whole relationship changes. I can’t help but gaze at them, cupped like jewels... posted on Jan 19 2021 (10,939 reads)

the harm; and for every act of resistance, he advocated nine more actions for constructive social change. "Nonviolence isn't just a philosophy of resistance.  It is a way of life.  Nonviolence is the thoughts we have, the words that we use, the clothes that we wear, the things that we say.  It is not just an absence of violence, not even just the absence of wanting to cause harm.  Nonviolence is a state when your heart is so full of love, compassion, kindness, generosity and forgiveness that you simply don't have any room for anger, frustration or violence," Pancho describes. When Pancho stopped cooperating with the University of California syst... posted on Nov 29 2011 (166,493 reads)

before spreading, Kmart executives said. "It is honestly being driven by people wanting to do a good deed at this time of the year," said Salima Yala, Kmart's division vice president for layaway. The good Samaritans seem to be visiting mainly Kmart stores, though a Wal-Mart spokesman said a few of his stores in Joplin, Mo., and Chicago have also seen some layaway accounts paid off. Kmart representatives say they did nothing to instigate the secret Santas or spread word of the generosity. But it's happening as the company struggles to compete with chains such as Wal-Mart and Target. Kmart may be the focus of layaway generosity, Yala said, because it is one of the few large... posted on Dec 19 2011 (16,521 reads)

regnant, as though a revolution has taken place. Sometimes as the emergencies are resolved people seem to have a different sense of what is possible, for themselves personally, and for their society. But hope - hope is more for ordinary times. Mark Karlin: What is it about disasters that, while resulting in large loss of life, can also be societally liberating? I am thinking of your epilogue: "Disaster reveals what else the world could be like - reveals the strength of that hope, that generosity and that solidarity. It reveals mutual aid as a default operating principle and civil society as something waiting in the wings when it's absent from the stage." Rebecca Solnit:... posted on Jun 24 2013 (14,811 reads)

the Net are worthy organizations devoted to children’s well-being, and the two are partners. But it’s a lot easier to see how your donation to Spread the Net will make an impact. And, sure enough, research we’ve conducted has found that when donors give money to Spread the Net, they get a bigger happiness boost than when they give money to UNICEF. As that finding suggests, people feel better about giving money when they can sense the real-world impact of their generosity. Knowing that we’re having an impact on someone else is another critical factor in transforming good deeds into good feelings. What’s more, enabling donors to see the specifi... posted on Nov 11 2013 (33,050 reads)

that is. With the advent of fMRI imaging and the proliferation of brain research, scientists have begun to find out more about how sadness works in the brain and influences our thoughts and behavior. Though happiness is still desirable in many situations, there are others in which a mild sad mood confers important advantages. Findings from my own research suggest that sadness can help people improve attention to external details, reduce judgmental bias, increase perseverance, and promote generosity. All of these findings build a case that sadness has some adaptive functions, and so should be accepted as an important component of our emotional repertoire. Here are some of the ways s... posted on Aug 29 2014 (28,869 reads)

in this destructive phase that is so terrifying. All the work I do in the world is an attempt to ease that passage. So the way I try to do that is by taking positive steps in every way I can. Counteracting the fear that we are all feeling with positive action with enjoyment and with pleasure and with change. One of the things that I have loved over the years with doing Daily Bread is that it’s very out there, in the world’s eye. So it attracts attention, and it also attracts generosity, partly because it itself is an act of generosity. Those who resonate with its generosity become generous in turn. Over the years, we’ve gotten offered some of the most amazing thi... posted on Oct 30 2014 (16,401 reads)

our neural pathways-- and our mental patterns can’t help but come along for the ride. "Pay Forward a Surprise Treat" was the kindness idea for Day 1. This student baked vegan donuts for her class, and initially, just placed them at the front of the room. But when others hesitated to help themselves, she took a flying leap out of her comfort zone. Walking to the front of the classroom, she began to hand out her homemade treats. For her it was an unprecedented gesture of generosity -- and it opened the door to a whole new world. Day after day, she stepped up her kind acts, and began to notice changes within. Not only was she happier and more attentive, but her whol... posted on Dec 19 2014 (27,016 reads)

such as Aung San Suu Ky, Dorothy Day, and Peace Pilgrim. Their lives exposed me to stories of possibility and along with that internship, I also learned about meditation. Together the two transformed me. Soon I learned about Service Space Awakin gatherings and I kept going back every Wednesday until slowly I started learning about Service Space. It all just felt right. By the end of that summer, Karma Kitchen reopened and it was such a joyful day for me to try and blow people away with generosity. It was a very different approach than my approach as a social justice activist. It felt very subtle and it was a way of making things peaceful in a very simple and intentional way. ... posted on Feb 17 2015 (21,099 reads)

loose phrase that captures the ability to listen, exert ourselves, cooperate with others, do our best, and stick to a task until we’ve done it right. They should do it at least one summer during high school. Or perhaps more: Some parents require their children to pay for a portion of their first year in college, even if the parents could write a check for it easily. 5. Teach kids the importance of giving Parents have an essential role to play in modeling generosity, and researchers have shown that if parents give, kids tend to as well. If you haven’t primed the pump of generosity with your kids by talking to them about your charitable giving, yo... posted on Mar 19 2015 (22,045 reads)

to affairs of the heart. […] What I really mean … is be passionate, fall madly in love with life. Be passionate about some part of the natural and/or human worlds and take risks on its behalf, no matter how vulnerable they make you. No one ever died saying, “I’m sure glad for the self-centered, self-serving and self-protective life I lived.” Offer yourself to the world — your energies, your gifts, your visions, your heart — with open-hearted generosity. But understand that when you live that way you will soon learn how little you know and how easy it is to fail. To grow in love and service, you — I, all of us — must value i... posted on Nov 3 2015 (59,846 reads)

than a decade after Greater Good first started reporting on the science of compassion, generosity, happiness—what we call “the science of a meaningful life”—the research in our field is acquiring ever more nuance and sophistication. New studies build on and even re-interpret findings from previous years, particularly as their authors use more exacting methods, with bigger and broader data sets, and consider additional factors to explain prior results. These nuances are clearly reflected in this year’s list of our Top 10 Insights from the Science of a Meaningful Life—the fourth such list compiled by Greater Good’s editors. Indeed, many of this... posted on Jan 7 2016 (18,470 reads)

was recently the recipient of an incredible act of anonymous kindness. It came from out of nowhere, at exactly the right time.  The magnitude of the gift moved me to tears, and I was so grateful and profoundly moved by the generosity of my unknown benefactor.  But I was also sure there had been a mistake. In the midst of this beautiful act, I am ashamed to admit that I was momentarily overcome by feelings of unworthiness.  I simply couldn’t believe I was deserving of such radical kindness.  Had I been face to face with my benefactor, I would have given them 100 reasons why they “shouldn’t have”, attempting to convince them that they wer... posted on Oct 16 2016 (13,597 reads)

days thereafter, $5 checks went out to 150 families across the town. Today, $5 doesn’t sound like much, but back then it was more like $100. For many, it was more money than they had seen in months. So stunning was the offer that it was featured in a front-page story in the newspaper, and word of it spread a hundred miles.” Read here how the grandson of the mysterious B. Virdot discovered this exceptional legacy and did his own sleuthing to discover how his grandfather’s generosity affected its beneficiaries. Secret Agent L. “For the past year, Laura Miller has been living a double life of sorts: administrative assistant by day, secret agent of kindness by... posted on Dec 13 2016 (14,257 reads)