When I see the words ‘radical generosity’, the left side of my brain desires to break down each element of this dynamic duo and dissect its parts for better comprehension. I feel like Alton Brown right now – someone who has the God-given ability to nerd-ify anything and everything lol. It’s a gift. ^_^
The right side of my brain immediately wants to give this word a big bear-hug. Generosity is an interesting word. It’s scalable, immeasurable, and instantly connotatively-positive all at once. To describe something as radical is definitely an intensity enhancer.
There are folks who love the music of the Beatles, and there are ‘radical’ Beatles fans who have: Abbey Road shower curtains, “Here Comes The Sun” as their alarm clock song, John Lennon shaped glasses (the only glasses they wear), memorized every single lyric from the Beatles catalog, and extensive collections of coffee mugs that are shaped in the faces of each member of the band with the handle of the cup shaped as an ear! For die-hard, radical Beatles fanatics, living like this isn’t just a way of life; it’s normal.
Isn’t the heart and essence of generosity equivocal to being radical? The word ‘generous’ already implies that someone has done more than what is normally expected. Thus, radical generosity is going ABOVE and BEYOND the norm. Being radically generous is a standout quality and has the inevitable quality of creating long-lasting, positive effects. As global citizens, I believe it is our responsibility to create generational impact, generational positivity, and generational sustainability. Radical generosity is the catalyst which creates the generational blessings that reach beyond our hopes and dreams!
I think of generosity as a button. One is either a generous person, or (they’re) not. Of course, everyone has naturally been conditioned to approach generosity a certain way given one’s background and upbringing. And although that’s understandable, there are numerous issues in every community that could use a big, warm, hand-woven blanket of radical generosity. Some of those general issues are centered around: homelessness, safety, shelter, hunger, elderly care, child care, advocacy, feminine products, toxic domestic relations, mental health, and education (just to name a few). From a global lens, there are those who *still* lack access to clean water, nourishment, education, transportation, proper medical supplies/aid/resources, shelter, clothing, footwear, hygienic supplies, etc.
Please remember that radical generosity can be expressed in different ways. Especially during the busy holiday season, there is always an enormous amount of opportunities to exercise radical generosity that involve volunteering, time, organization, talents, logistics, planning, care, kindness, sympathy, and empathy.
This season and all seasons moving forward, especially given the world that we live in, may we dial-up our levels of generosity. With there being so many issues in our communities pleading for our attention, I believe the opportunities to practice radical generosity will easily reveal themselves to us. There are already so many different causes that we could give our time, care, organization, talents, and money to. It is up to us to create a better, more loving, more sustainable, and accessible world for our communities and the world.
Let’s sincerely put forth our best effort to really underline the ‘Merry’ in “Merry Christmas”, and the ‘Happy’ in “Happy Holidays”. 🙂
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