"They often opened their home to extended-stay guests. A friend would be going through a divorce and needed a place for a few weeks while looking for an apartment, or a meditation teacher would be in town from India, bringing us tiny clay buddhas and new dishes at the dinner table. One year, my parents hosted a violinist who was performing at the local symphony for about a month. I remember watching her play violin at the top of our entryway stairs."
"I was a teenager struggling with bulimia at the time, unable to get through a day of abstinence, and when the violinist found out, she pulled me aside to tell me that she was in recovery from an eating disorder too. She offered to take me for the summer to Colorado with her-her next performance stop. That summer, the violinist taught me the importance of starting my day with journaling, reading something inspirational, and quiet time."
"This was true generosity. In Buddhism, generosity - dāna pāramitā - is considered the first perfection of the heart. To give to others opens your heart, and supports your own healing and awakening. I see now that it is likely that that violinist was receiving as much as she was giving by supporting my recovery. I feel the same way in my clinical work now."
Generosity produces measurable benefits for physical and emotional well-being and can even extend lifespan. Fearless generosity offers presence, safety, and compassion rather than performative acts. Personal caregiving can transform recovery: a visiting violinist supported a teenager with bulimia through companionship, routines, exercise, and inspiration, producing lasting change. Buddhist thought names generosity (dāna pāramitā) as a primary heart-perfection, asserting that giving opens the heart and supports healing and awakening. Giving often reciprocally nourishes the giver, reinforcing that sharing freely affirms having enough and cultivates gratitude, awe, empathy, and deeper human connection.
Read at Psychology Today
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