Giving finds active motivation and expression in every aspect of life from the most intimate moments to the largest-scale social undertakings.
This post is the first in a series about generosity in action. We will explore how altruism – concern for and care of others – reflects an essential, positive element of human nature. In turn, we will consider how giving organically applies to every day practical pursuits like art, athletics, economics, and politics.
Becoming a “Generosity Hammer”
You’ve heard the expression, “If you’re a hammer, then everything is a nail.” Well, I confess that more than ten years of working on this project have made me a generosity hammer. Everywhere I look, I see opportunities for giving either taken with success or missed with regret.
As my Generosity Journey unfolded, I gathered countless books, articles, and anecdotes on the subject that literally piled up around my study at home (much to the chagrin of my tidy and long-suffering wife). After writing down my own reflections in what became WISEgenerosity, I explored those piles to learn what others had to say.
Happily, I found many like-minded travelers. Two of them, academics Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson of the University of Notre Dame, wrote a book called The Paradox of Generosity: Giving We Receive, Grasping We Lose containing detailed research on the topic. Their work is worth reflecting on for a moment.
Generosity is Essential to a Meaningful and Effective Life
The introduction to The Paradox of Generosity makes the following points:
GENEROSITY IS GOOD FOR US
“First, the more generous Americans are, the more happiness, health, and purpose in life they enjoy. This association between generous practices and personal well-being is strong and highly consistent across a variety of types of generous practices and measures of well-being.”
GENEROSITY MAKES US BETTER PEOPLE.
“Second, we have excellent reason to believe that generous practices actually create enhanced personal well-being. The association between generosity and well-being is not accidental, spurious, or simply an artifact of reverse causal influence. Certain well-known, explicable causal mechanisms explain to us the specific ways that generous practices shape positive well-being outcomes.”
EVIDENCE OF GENEROSITY’S BENEFITS ARE ALL AROUND US.
“Third, the way Americans talk about generosity confirms and illustrates the first two points. The paradox of generosity is evident in the lives of Americans.”
GENEROSITY IS NOT AS FULLY ADOPTED AS IT COULD BE OR SHOULD BE
“Fourth, despite all of this, it turns out that many Americans fail to live generous lives. A lot of Americans are indeed very generous – but even more are not. And so the latter are deprived, by their lack of generosity, of the greater well-being that generous practices would likely afford them.”
GENEROSITY IS AN ANSWER TO AGE-OLD QUESTIONS ABOUT LIVING A MEANINGFUL AND EFFECTIVE LIFE.
Finally, … many wise writers, philosophers, religious teachers, sages, and mystics have been teaching us about the paradox of generosity for thousands of years. What today’s empirical social-science research tells us only confirms what we might have known all along, had we trusted the traditional teachers.[i]
Happily, the white coats (scientists) and the white robes (sages) agree – generosity is essential to a life well lived.
ALIVEgenerosity Connects Purpose and Practice
This blog will explore several important questions.
- What is generosity?
- Why is generosity such a powerful framework for understanding a good life and a strong foundation on which to build one?
- How do we apply generosity purposefully and practically?
- What does a generous life involve and what benefits does it produce?
To answer these questions, we’ll explore examples of generosity in a wide variety of contexts involving people young and old, past and present, famous and obscure.
Generosity is essential to a good life. It is purposeful and practical, then, to pursue generosity in action: ALIVEgenerosity.