subjugated, instead of seeking revenge, were ready to speak about reconciliation, forgiveness. Of course, they were given a wonderful example by the magnanimity of a Nelson Mandela, who came out of prison not spitting blood and fire, but saying we need to understand the other person and we need to forgive. And our country was saved from devastation by this willingness to understand and to forgive. "No one is self-sufficient." And it’s not a one-way thing—the generosity of spirit from one side provokes a response in kind from the other side. People wondered when they saw the caterpillar that had been South Africa—repulsive—turning into a gorgeo... posted on Jun 21 2015 (13,519 reads)

new study maps what happens in our bodies and brains when we witness acts of kindness and compassion. I don’t know about you, but no matter how many times I watch It’s a Wonderful Life, I am moved to tears. Something about that moment when George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, is rescued from financial and emotional ruin by the generosity of his friends gets to me, making me feel deeply moved and hopeful about our capacity for human goodness. Researchers have a name for that high we get from witnessing human goodness: “moral elevation.” And it has been shown to have many positive benefits. Past studies have found that moral elevation inspi... posted on Jun 11 2015 (15,702 reads)

we wear this badge of honor of productivity as this hallmark of purpose. But it's, in many ways, the opposite because Thoreau’s point was basically that the more we busy ourselves with just the drudgery of work, the more actual work we accomplish. MS. TIPPETT: Right. I do feel that there's a real quality in you as a human being which comes through in your work of — and this is how it came to me when I was trying to put it into words — intellectual confidence and generosity. MS. POPOVA: Oh, that’s such a lovely thing to say. Thank you. MS. TIPPETT: Well, and it's — you know… MS. POPOVA: I would like for it to be true one day. It... posted on Jul 15 2015 (11,943 reads)

of humanity. Every tradition speaks of the loss of something, whether in the western tradition’s faith and virtue or sometimes in the eastern traditions of understanding and wisdom. Preeta: I am curious, as we are talking about the money, I'm curious about your views about the gift economy. There’s movement from some groups and people to push away from a transaction based view of capitalism. Do you have a sense of how you foster, or whether it is even worth trying to foster generosity or gifitivism? Jerry: Yes. I think there are some ideas there that could be put into practice. I know all of you are doing it in ways that are really wonderful. Anybody can ask themselve... posted on Jul 4 2015 (8,836 reads)

With millions cheering on, many South Africans saw this as a symbolic opportunity to signal the end of Apartheid; they were eager to change the team name, colors and jersey in a sport that was widely considered a “white man’s game”. Mandela, on the other hand, saw a different opportunity. An opportunity for forgiveness. He went from sport clubs to town halls to rally his countrymen to take the higher road: “We have to surprise them with compassion, with restraint and generosity; I know, all of the things they denied us, but this is no time to celebrate petty revenge.” That was the thing about Mandela. He had the audacity to believe in each person's ca... posted on Jul 7 2015 (117,432 reads)

funny and valued. You often catch them looking after other people and as they do so their laugh is musical and their manner is infused with gratitude. They are not thinking about what wonderful work they are doing. They are not thinking about themselves at all.  When I meet such a person it brightens my whole day. But I confess I often have a sadder thought: It occurs to me that I’ve achieved a decent level of career success, but I have not achieved that. I have not achieved that generosity of spirit, or that depth of character.  A few years ago I realized that I wanted to be a bit more like those people. I realized that if I wanted to do that I was going to have to wo... posted on Jul 22 2015 (33,446 reads)

creating my own kind of bucket list. Not the usual listing of things I wish to do before I leave this earth, but an accounting of the gracious drops of kindness that have filled my pail to the brim. Whether the contribution was a single drip from an eyedropper or gallons upon gallons of generosity, all have buoyed my soul, washed away hours of pain, and carried me through turbulent trials. And so I have decided to make a conscious effort to recognize these not-so-random acts. Some were as temporary as the morning dew, but equaling as cooling. Others have been like IVs, injecting nourishment continually. A few were summer storms: electrifying, powerful, and brief. Whether thei... posted on Aug 27 2015 (23,422 reads)

a Food City grocery store chain executive; a local attorney; a business owner from neighboring Loudon County. In most cases, the board members are professionals who came to the Love Kitchen first as volunteers helping in the kitchen or on the delivery routes and were so impressed by the operation and its founders that they decided to dedicate their expertise to helping support it on the organizational level. The Love Kitchen isn’t the only recipient of Riggins’ remarkable generosity. He has also been volunteering 20 to 30 hours most weeks for the past few years with the Knoxville Police Department as a reserve officer, another unpaid duty he takes on. Riggins devoted n... posted on Sep 5 2015 (12,424 reads)

of my attention was on soothing and comforting myself. My mind became flooded with compassion, to the point that it dominated my experience—far more than my screaming child. Furthermore, as I’d already discovered, when I was in a more peaceful and loving frame of mind, Rowan also calmed down. As I soothed myself, he was soothed as well. When we care tenderly for ourselves in response to suffering, our heart opens. Compassion engages our capacity for love, wisdom, courage, and generosity. It’s a mental and emotional state that’s boundless and directionless, grounded in the great spiritual traditions of the world but available to every person simply by virtue of ... posted on Oct 19 2015 (29,583 reads)

reach’d the distance fancy yet desires. But Howard gives us with his clearer mind The gain of lessons new to all mankind; That which no hand can reach, no hand can clasp, He first has gain’d, first held with mental grasp. Defin’d the doubtful, fix’d its limit-line, And named it fitly. — Be the honour thine! As clouds ascend, are folded, scatter, fall, Let the world think of thee who taught it all. It was an astonishing gesture of intellectual generosity and remains among history’s most touching intersections of notable lives. So intensely interested was Goethe in the mind behind the cloud classification system that, with Hüttner... posted on Nov 5 2015 (16,463 reads)

— even frankly antisocial in its point of view. Serious critics, serious librarians, serious associate professors of English will if they read this work dislike it intensely;. at least I hope so. To others I can only say that if the book has virtues they cannot be disentangled from the faults; that there is a way of being wrong which is also sometimes necessarily right. But make no mistake — his are reflections undergirded not by grouchiness but by immense grace and generosity of spirit. Take, for instance, how he cushions against the potential complaint that the book is too concerned with the appearance of the landscape. (It is not.) I am pleased enough with ... posted on Nov 25 2015 (11,680 reads)

or free writing/journaling, to help you get in touch with your experience. By learning to be curious about our uncensored selves, she argues, we can stop from acting out in ways that are hurtful to others or just plain counterproductive. She writes: The goal of the rumble is to get honest about the stories we’re making up about our struggles, to revisit, challenge, and reality-check these narratives as we dig into topics such as boundaries, shame, blame, resentment, heartbreak, generosity, and forgiveness. Rumbling with these topics and moving from our first responses to a deeper understanding of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors gives birth to key learnings about who we... posted on Dec 26 2015 (17,988 reads)

makes forgiveness an act of compassion rather than one of simple forgetting. To forgive is to assume a larger identity than the person who was first hurt, to mature and bring to fruition an identity that can put its arm, not only around the afflicted one within but also around the memories seared within us by the original blow and through a kind of psychological virtuosity, extend our understanding to one who first delivered it. Forgiveness is a skill, a way of preserving clarity, sanity and generosity in an individual life, a beautiful way of shaping the mind to a future we want for ourselves; an admittance that if forgiveness comes through understanding, and if understanding is just a m... posted on Feb 8 2016 (43,576 reads)

of California, Berkeley, studied the potential impact of nature on the willingness to be generous, trusting, and helpful toward others, while considering what factors might influence that relationship. As part of their study, the researchers exposed participants to more or less subjectively beautiful nature scenes (whose beauty levels were rated independently) and then observed how participants behaved playing two economics games—the Dictator Game and the Trust Game—that measure generosity and trust, respectively. After being exposed to the more beautiful nature scenes, participants acted more generously and more trusting in the games than those who saw less beautiful scenes,... posted on Mar 20 2016 (27,644 reads)

just interpersonal patience: In Schnitker’s 2012 study, all three were associated with higher “agreeableness,” a personality trait characterized by warmth, kindness, and cooperation. The interpersonally patient people even tended to be less lonely, perhaps because making and keeping friends—with all their quirks and slip-ups—generally requires a healthy dose of patience. “Patience may enable individuals to tolerate flaws in others, therefore displaying more generosity, compassion, mercy, and forgiveness,” write Schnitker and Emmons in their 2007 study. On a group level, patience may be one of the foundations of civil society. Patient people are ... posted on Jun 28 2023 (24,074 reads)

effort, for that person who receives that, it can mean an immense amount. And not to forget that these small, little actions, these little ripples, can actually end up creating a tsunami if each of us engage in them. Remember, when a person — and we know this from the science — when a person sees another person engage in a positive behavior, they’re many, many times more likely to engage in that behavior themselves. When they see another person act with kindness, and with generosity, and with gratitude... MS. TIPPETT: It becomes infectious, right. DR. DOTY: ...and when you ... MS. TIPPETT: It becomes contagious. DR. DOTY: Exactly. MS. TIPPETT: A positive... posted on Apr 17 2016 (32,085 reads)

our name, and dollars in our bank account. The shiny carrots of money, fame and prestige may grab our attention but we’re not going to find our keys under those glittering lights. Because that is not where we lost them. The keys to deep-rooted and sustainable happiness -- have, and always will lie, within ourselves. In our mad rush for artificial intelligence, we are forgetting about plain, human intelligence -- let alone wisdom. We've forgotten that we are creatures capable of generosity, compassion, forgiveness and a vast array of other virtues. Outer engineering won't get us there. It will have to be inner transformation. Sure, innovations like AI may augment o... posted on May 31 2016 (49,944 reads)

their passions to create a coloring book of postcards, in which each word is elaborated by Anne with a phrase and a unique illustration created by Ellie. This collaboration between a mother and daughter team extends to involve the colorer, the recipient, the postal service, and beyond. From the simple act of coloring a picture to the delight of receiving a postcard in the mail, this project manifests Ellie’s belief that there are infinite ways to spread joy through creativity and generosity. Anne and Ellie hope that these seeds of mindfulness and creativity find fertile ground throughout the world. Feel free to download the images and color them in. The act of coloring can ... posted on Jun 1 2016 (17,509 reads)

have always had an interest in living a good life – perhaps a natural attraction towards positive psychology. An experience early on in life eventually taught me the value of seeing the self as far deeper than the finely curated fragments of body and mind that we spend a lifetime trying to conquer. It showed me, albeit exclusively, the faint and subtle yearnings of the soul that often went unheard in the noise and clamour of daily life. The Journey to Finding Meaning On an annual trip to my parent’s home in Pakistan, I decided to honor its call and spend my 2 weeks identifying a needy cause to which to contribute a portion of my time and finances. I did not have to look f... posted on Jun 5 2016 (14,152 reads)

without going through a disaster, and ... MS. TIPPETT: [laughs] That’s right. That’s the question, isn’t it? MS. SOLNIT: And I think of that as kind of this funny way the earthquake shakes you awake, and then that’s sort of the big spiritual question. How do you stay awake? How do you stay in that deeper consciousness of that present-mindedness, that sense of non-separation, and compassion, and engagement, and courage, which is also a big part of it, and generosity. People are not selfish and greedy. So and then the other question is why has everything we’ve ever been told about human nature misled us about what happens in these moments? And wha... posted on Jun 25 2016 (11,047 reads)