heightened, and its deepest mystery probed? … Why are we reading if not in hope that the writer will magnify and dramatize our days, will illuminate and inspire us with wisdom, courage, and the possibility of meaning, and will press upon our minds the deepest mysteries, so we may feel again their majesty and power? But the most significant animating force of great art, Dillard argues, is the artist’s willingness to hold nothing back and to create, always, with an unflappable generosity of spirit: One of the few things I know about writing is this: Spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Don’t hoard what seems good for a later plac... posted on Apr 15 2016 (13,085 reads)

our power, our capacity to influence others, with humility, the greater our power is. Don't be impressed by your own work-- stay critical of it. Accept and encourage the skepticism and the push-back of others that have enabled you to make a difference in the world. Remember that others have enabled you to make a difference in the world, and there is always more work to do. 3. Stay focused on others, and give. The most direct path to enduring power is through generosity. Give resources, money, time, respect, and power to others. In these acts of giving we empower others in our social networks, enhancing our own ability to make a difference in the... posted on May 17 2016 (15,199 reads)

social, psychological, and emotional life. Over 100 studies have shown that being in nature, living near nature, or even viewing nature in paintings and videos can have positive impacts on our brains, bodies, feelings, thought processes, and social interactions. In particular, viewing nature seems to be inherently rewarding, producing a cascade of position emotions and calming our nervous systems. These in turn help us to cultivate greater openness, creativity, connection, generosity, and resilience. In other words, science suggests we may seek out nature not only for our physical survival, but also because it’s good for our social and personal well-being. H... posted on Dec 7 2017 (16,499 reads)

them how important their work is. In fact, quite often the system and culture we live in discourages them, telling them that they are foolish, naïve, irresponsible, impractical, and giving them little financial reward. How many times have you been told a life dedicated to beauty or nurture or healing is unrealistic? Maybe after everything on your farm is all ship-shape, maybe after you are personally secure with a solid career and secure investments, maybe then you can afford a little generosity. So I admire people who are generous first, generous with their precious lives. They are my teachers. They are the ones who have eroded my ambition to make it big – even with the excu... posted on Nov 9 2017 (16,417 reads)

people operates the whole show. The person who greets you at the door has taken their Sunday off to serve you, the person who waits your tables is volunteering, the person who is plating your food in the back is just there to serve you, the person who is bussing your tables is a volunteer, the person who is doing the dishes is a volunteer. At some point or another, most diners stop and say to themselves, “Wow, all these people are just here to serve me just so I can have an experience in generosity?” It completely moves their hearts. If you have to organize ten volunteers, you can do it in a certain way, but then if you go from ten to a hundred to a thousand, to let's say... posted on Aug 17 2017 (22,062 reads)

create islands of sanity in the midst of this destructive sea. We can use our sphere of influence, however large or small, to do as Theodore Roosevelt enjoined us: "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."  Leadership on an Island of Sanity I know it is possible for leaders to use their power and influence, their insight and compassion, to lead people back to an understanding of who we are as human beings, to create the conditions for our basic human qualities of generosity, contribution, community, and love to be evoked no matter what. I know it is possible to experience grace and joy in the midst of tragedy and loss. I know it is possible to create islands o... posted on Dec 8 2017 (24,045 reads)

thief. And even if you kill somebody, you’re not just a killer. It made me really recognise the impropriety of the death penalty, the inhumanity of the death penalty, because when we execute someone we’re not just executing a killer. We don’t have the capacity to kill just that part of a person who committed a terrible crime who then deserves punishment. We kill all these other things. We kill this person who’s capable of care-giving, this person who’s capable of generosity and compassion, who might be a father, a brother, a son or a daughter, a friend, who might be all of these things that every human being strives to be. And that’s why it becomes a sen... posted on Mar 27 2018 (7,832 reads)

It feels like the most important thing in the world to be at the bedside of a dying loved one, or to be present for a child at a special moment. Reality, moreover, often turns out to be the opposite of what the arithmetic of measurable impact would suggest. The most potent actions are often done without forethought of publicity. They are sincere and uncalculating, touching us with a kind of naiveté. Ask yourself, which is more inspiring : to accidentally witness a touching act of generosity, or to watch the same act staged to become a spectacle ? Consider the man who stood in front of the tank at Tiananmen. Would it have been as potent a symbol if he had made sure first that s... posted on Apr 7 2018 (23,926 reads)

what you have to say. If you get pulled into the negative, drop it and focus only on the positive. And remember that this step is optional: If the challenge you’re facing is too powerful, you can grow mental resources for addressing it through the first three HEAL steps alone. A core of happiness Going on a dangerous hike, we know that we need to bring food and other supplies. The same is true when traveling the road of life. We need psychological supplies, such as courage and generosity, in our neural “backpack.” To fill up your backpack, be mindful of which particular need—safety, satisfaction, or connection—is at stake in the challenges of your... posted on Apr 24 2018 (26,909 reads)

feels like. Afterward, they’re invited to send the person a text message expressing their thanks. “It’s a total heart-opener,” says Bonanno. “A lot of people have said that it’s helped them to open up a conversation that they’ve needed to have with a business partner or a spouse, something they’ll been holding in, something they’ve been putting off.” In another workshop, Bonanno saw the power of gratitude to promote kindness and generosity. Some of the participants at a large technology company experienced feelings of guilt during a gratitude practice: Focusing on the good in their lives made them recognize all their privileg... posted on Jul 4 2018 (10,498 reads)

boy who raised over a million dollars to help find a cure for his friend’s rare disease. We can also find inspiration in the mother who forgave her son’s murderers and promised to help them change their lives. Stories like these fill me with hope and an appreciation for what’s best in humankind. Pioneering studies by Haidt and others find that moral elevation doesn’t just make you feel good. It actually encourages more compassion and generosity. In other words, it breaks down the barriers between people—something that Americans need right now. Stories of goodness have the capacity to touch us all, filling us with hope for hu... posted on Aug 28 2018 (10,368 reads)

do service and make a difference. In my freshman year of college, Irene, one of the co-founders, and I, flew out to California and met with the author of ‘Pay It Forward.’  She talked about how the book came to be.  She was stranded on the side of a road with a car fire.  A random stranger put out the fire, said ‘pay it forward,’ and left. She still has no idea who that person was.  It just kind of resonated on a give-first mentality, the generosity of doing things for others without asking anything in return, just hoping the small acts of kindness make ripples. And that's why I resonate with the ServiceSpace movement -- because th... posted on Jan 2 2019 (3,347 reads)

things are connected, that we are all related, that everything depends on everything else, we start to see solutions. Why do we have crises between Palestine and Israel, between Sunni and Shia, between America and Russia, India and Pakistan, Christians and Muslims? Because we see ourselves as being separate from others. When all our interactions are embedded in friend­ ships and loving relationships, then we will act from a po­sition of patience, acceptance, tolerance, forgiveness, and generosity. When I was 27, I spent two and a half years walking around the world, which I have described in Chapter Two. I walked for eight thousand miles, without any money, com­pletely depend... posted on Apr 4 2019 (7,588 reads)

natural world is one of the most resplendent and consistent sources of generosity in our lives — whether we experience it directly moment-to-moment or not. When we allow ourselves to tune in and pay attention, our Earth is perpetually nourishing and providing for us, sustaining life and offering its abundant gifts with a breathtaking and consistent flourish. We are fed, literally and figuratively, by the Earth’s offerings every day. All manner of things born of the Earth can awaken us to perspective. All manner of moments in Nature can offer us gratitude for life’s preciousness and remind us of our fragile and powerful bonds of connection. Amidst oceans, fields, rain, t... posted on Nov 25 2019 (6,717 reads)

today, is powerful medicine. It leaves me, to use a favorite phrase cribbed from my friend Jill (Letter #10), “suffused with a sense of well-being.” Despite its profound impact, the Thank-You Project comes down to three simple steps, done repeatedly: See the people, places, and things that make your life richer.  Say something to acknowledge your good fortune in your letters. And, by keeping copies of the letters to reread, Savor the generosity and support that surrounds you. The first letter I wrote when I started my project was to my mom. I figured I owed her that, having lived rent-free in her uterus for nine months. I have ... posted on Dec 9 2019 (8,759 reads)

for a stipend that comes with strict conditions. The crisis could usher in totalitarianism or solidarity; medical martial law or a holistic renaissance; greater fear of the microbial world, or greater resiliency in participation in it; permanent norms of social distancing, or a renewed desire to come together. What can guide us, as individuals and as a society, as we walk the garden of forking paths? At each junction, we can be aware of what we follow: fear or love, self-preservation or generosity. Shall we live in fear and build a society based on it? Shall we live to preserve our separate selves? Shall we use the crisis as a weapon against our political enemies? These are not all-o... posted on Apr 16 2020 (14,294 reads)

she is quite confident that the end of our civilization is closer than we might like to think. And she is doing something about it… something radical. Wheatley is building an army of 'warriors for the human spirit' with people who want to lessen the suffering in the world - whether it be from natural disasters, political strife, war, famine, or from the tyranny of daily injustices in modern life. Her warriors are trained as leaders with compassion, kindness, servitude and generosity as prime requirements. Wheatley has amassed a library of resources - articles, podcasts, videos, and even poems - to help inspire your inner warrior. S... posted on Jun 17 2020 (9,462 reads)

themselves would be mortified to see how their ideas had been contorted. We could start, for example, with Adam Smith in 1776 writing The Wealth of Nations.  He wrote this very famous sentence, which has come to underpin the power of self-interest in market economics: “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.” Meaning that people don’t provide things out of generosity, but their own interest and it is the market that ingeniously allows this to happen. Well the wonderful irony was that Adam was aged 43 when he wrote his classic book. He’d never marr... posted on Jul 19 2020 (8,355 reads)

humanity and the web of life.  Every culture has its creation stories, whether they are of the Garden of Eden of Judeo- Christianity, or the Great Light of the Skywoman falling to Earth of the Haudenosaunee people. [2] They tell us where we belong in the beginning, and how this beginning is then woven into our lives. And for many centuries we live this story: we are a people after the Fall, banished from Eden, living by the “sweat of our brow”; or we are present in the generosity of a land where the Good Spirit protects Her people. And now, at the end of an era, when these stories are mostly just remembered in books, and we live without our feet touching the earth, ... posted on Sep 20 2020 (7,175 reads)

ritual-art designs called 'kolam,' at the thresholds of their homes, as a tribute to Mother Earth and an offering to Goddess Lakshmi. A Tamil word that means beauty, form, play, disguise or ritual design-- a kolam is anchored in the Hindu belief that householders have a karmic obligation to "feed a thousand souls." By creating the kolam with rice flour, a woman provides food for birds, rodents, ants and other tiny life forms -- greeting each day with 'a ritual of generosity', that blesses both the household, and the greater community. Kolams are a deliberately transient form of art. They are created anew each dawn with a combination of reverence, mathemati... posted on May 20 2021 (16,712 reads)