Being Generous

Today, I’m practicing being generous. This is not entirely new to me but I’m not sure the adjective – generous – would be used to spontaneously describe me. My husband says that I am, so that makes me happy.

The way I’m choosing to be generous today is with with my words. When friends, digital acquaintances, or even strangers do good work or pass a milestone, congratulations are in order. I’m congratulating many of my poetry friday peers on their inclusion in a new anthology called 10 x 10, edited by Bridget Magee, one of my fellow poetry friday participants. I hope to add her book to my collection of poetry. It always makes the addition of a new book more exciting when you “know” some of the authors. Many other poetry friday participants are listed among the authors in the book. Congratulations to all!

I’ve been involved in a digital workshop on the logistics of creating anthologies for the last couple of months. It has been informative and fun. There were deadlines and revisions on some work that I created for the second part of the workshop. Although this stretched me as it occurred during a very emergent and tension filled time in my life, I still enjoyed the process. And, if I were being entirely honest, the work would have stretched me anyway – even without the personal tension and worries.

The instructors of the workshop are both authors and publishers, as well as educators. They’ve been generous in the sharing of their craft. Tidbits and tips have been passed on that could not have been obtained in any other way. They’ve been generous with their time in creating the workshop, running it, and editing participants’ work. I’ll be writing more about these professionals next week, so be sure to stop back to learn more next Friday, 10/22.

Like these instructors, I also have shared my knowledge in a generous way. COVID closures and cancellations prevented a lot of community education opportunities last year but I am already looking forward to several teaching opportunities in the 2021-2022 school year. Again, I will have a chance to be generous with my time through preparation and sharing of knowledge.

I tend to think of generosity having more to do with time spent or gestures made, rather than money spent or monetary dispersion. Yes, sometimes I am generous in a monetary way. I have contributed monetarily to several nature oriented charitable organizations for years. This year, I decided to donate time to monitor monarchs in our state natural areas as a volunteer. The organizations benefiting from this citizen science work are three-fold. They include Monarch Joint Venture, Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin DNR. Time is a gift, especially if given generously.

Generosity of time, money, and spirit are important. I am making a practice of being more generous in my life. How are you generous?