20 Nov Generosity
When the heart is heavy or broken by hurt and betrayal, disappointment, and sadness any one of us closes down. Draws the shutters.
In the body we withdraw as well, moving away from the edges of our skin, reducing contact with the outside world.
Yet, one of the greatest healing ointments is the opening of our heart, of remembering the natural expression of the heart to be generous. To not hold back.
Traditionally, in the ancient wisdom texts, there are three types of generosity:
- Ordinary generosity, which is when we give material goods or provide material comfort to others
- There’s also the gift of fearlessness. That’s the gift of reassuring when tormented, lost, confused, terrified. Reassuring either ourselves or others. In the Safely Embodied work, I’ve talked about the three steps of Mirroring, Validating, and Reassuring as part of this. I see the Mentors in the program as doing just this: reminding themselves and others in connection of the basic goodness we all have, that when we trust that flow and rhythm in us, we are returned to the organic flow of goodness and compassion.
- The third type of generosity is the gift of the path of healing, and of community. Of joining forces that remind us we are more, that we can grow, develop, and flourish.
Cultivating these we find that we can open up, because the opening up allows us to receive. The more we give, the more we receive. Then, of course, we practice freeing ourselves from wanting the end result, choosing to practice instead the simple, powerful act of giving.
Practice: how might you practice generosity in its many forms today? Is it to be generous to yourself? Or perhaps to stretch out of your comfort zone and reassure another that there is a next step? That even when it’s hard, we’re grounded in our common humanity. Learning to be together, as we practice returning home to ourselves.