Generosity as human magic. Or, the gateway to participating in life.
Show Notes - Journal Jam #6
Dear friends,
Yet another epic Journal Jam, with so much wisdom and insight to share.
Once again, I'm going to start off with our closing reflections. At the end of session, we were feeling: relieved, held, nourished, full, tall, grateful, spacious, safe, restored, reassured. How often do people jump on a Zoom call and generate these feelings? Thank you for listening, sharing and making this community what it is!
Generosity - a kind of human magic
This month, we explored generosity, or as Juliette so beautifully put it, human magic.
We kicked off with a quick list of our favourite expressions of generosity. Our responses were uplifting: opening our homes and hosting, sharing the food of our homeland, applause and cheering others on, when someone carries a memory for you, forgiveness.
What we noticed is how relational generosity is.
Our responses often entailed bridging distance or enhancing the flow of time, attention, love and resources between each other. Generosity seems to trade off a deep trust that "things will fall into place". We often give without expectation to receive in return or equal measure. At the same time, when we're generous, we're often laying a foundation upon which further generosity can grow. In this way, generosity is a loop, a cycle.
While generosity is often considered a gesture of giving, there are moments where we can’t give generously. When we’re feeling depleted, when we’ve given too much of ourselves away. There are moments when we need to receive. Like everything in life, generosity isn't black and white. Acknowledging the deeply relational nature of being, our task is to sensitively balance our mutual responsibilities to give and receive.
In this way, the opposite of generosity isn't taking.
Sometimes, taking is actually turning generosity inward. This got us thinking, what gets in the way of self-directed generosity? We threw around a few ideas - external duties, obligations, expectations, limits on resources. Inevitably, self-worth emerged as crucial enabler/barrier to receiving generosity. As Mik said, “your support system includes the ways you support yourself”. Ooft!
In the end, we agreed that generosity is about participating in life.
The opposite of this - greed, selfishness, cruelty - is really just an unwillingness to connect. If life is about relationship (with ourselves, with others, with our environment), generosity is the door to participate more fully in this relationship. When we're feeling strong, there are few things as pleasurable as sharing the magic we've received. It feels good to give!
The wisdom of the circle
The insights above are the fruit of an open conversation between four people. Profound and honest, this is the wisdom of our lived experiences. There's no "expert", no guru. Just four people exploring the richness and value of their own lives.
Journaling is a tool we can use to nurture our inner wisdom. Journal Jam is a way we can do this together. So thank you for your generosity in making this community what it is.
Until next time, happy writing my friends!
With love,
Alex
Recommendations
Listen
Happier with Gretchen Rubin - Sometimes, We Can Be Generous by Taking
The Imperfects - Dr Emily: What Are Your Values?
No Filter with Kate Langbroek - The 7 Types of Rest