Infectious Generosity
One rainy afternoon earlier this March I was wandering around my local bookshop.
The blue bit of plastic on top of the YA section looked like litter at first. I almost told my son not to touch it. But his hands were fast and before I even realized what he was doing, he had opened the egg with the little “open me” sticker to reveal a note inside.
It read “Congrats! You have won a free copy of Infectious Generosity by Chris Anderson! Bring this up to the front to redeem.”
So I walked to the counter to make my purchases, gave them the note and the egg, and sure enough, they gave me a copy of Chris Anderson’s new book Infectious Generosity at no charge.
A brand-new $30 book for free—certainly something that doesn’t happen every day, or maybe ever. I was pretty happy.
Since then, I’ve been reading and loving this little book. So I thought I’d share it here with you today.
Infectious Generosity is written by the founder and head of TED Chris Anderson for the simple purpose of asking the world what could happen if we each gave away something that might inspire ourselves, especially if that something happened to be given away in a way that could become contagious, infectious even.
It can be anything ~
love letters left under pillows,
kind words spoken authentically,
smiles at the grocery store,
a bit of grace when a colleague blunders,
well-loved books left in a free little library,
free encouraging emails in inboxes on Friday mornings 😉
The ripple effects of which can be life-changing ~
relationships saved,
hearts mended,
hope rising,
synergy thriving,
ideas spreading,
encouragement passed from person to person again and again.
It’s a new concept of generosity for our hyper-connected age where,
"Nonmaterial things are playing an ever more important role in our lives.
It’s easily possible to give them away on an unlimited scale.
Everyone is watching, which means that giving offers unlimited impact on the biggest currency of our age: reputation.”
Here’s what Bookshop.org says about Infectious Generosity:
“Let's face it: Recent years have been tough on optimists. Hopes that the Internet might bring people together have been crushed by the ills of social media. Is there a way back?
As head of TED, Chris Anderson has had a ringside view of the world's boldest thinkers sharing their most uplifting ideas. Inspired by them, he believes that it's within our grasp to turn outrage back into optimism. It all comes down to reimagining one of the most fundamental human virtues: generosity. What if generosity could become infectious generosity? Consider
- how a London barber began offering haircuts to people experiencing homelessness--and catalyzed a movement
- how two anonymous donors gave $10,000 each to two hundred strangers and discovered that most recipients wanted to "pay it forward" with their own generous acts
- how TED itself transformed from a niche annual summit into a global beacon of ideas by giving away talks online, allowing millions access to free learningIn telling these inspiring stories, Anderson has given us "the first page-turner ever written about human generosity" (Elizabeth Dunn). More important, he offers a playbook for how to embark on our own generous acts--whether gifts of money, time, talent, connection, or kindness--and to prime them, thanks to the Internet, to have self-replicating, even world-changing, impact.”
It’s about a world where we can use the internet to spread good stuff in an exponential way ~ something we can absolutely use more of these days (especially in a US election year, if I may say so).
Nothing is too small to give away ~ to make a difference.
Seriously.
Here’s to all of us spreading all kinds of goodness around today,
💛
Celeste