Monday Meditation

the delight of giving

In her memoir, American Childhood, the writer Annie Dillard tells a story from her childhood when she would walk home from the grocery store with her mother. All the way home, Annie would drop pennies at random along the sidewalk. Then she would spend the afternoon happily imagining the delight children felt when they discovered pennies by surprise.

The capacity to imagine others experiencing delight through your giving, is the wellspring of generosity and the key to a joyful life. Leaders with this capacity are those who find joy when other people flourish and the common good is strengthened. 

Many people have noticed a change of momentum in the  presidential race. Some describe a "lightness" of being, less tension and more positive spirit arising. For them, hope is in the air again. I believe this is because Kamala Harris and Tim Waltz have a capacity to experience delight when other people flourish.  People want this because, as  one commentator said, "we are tired of the old stuff - personal attacks, cruelty, lies and incoherent rants. We are tired of hearing about how horrible our country is and, frankly, we don't care about crowd size."