Ok, I admit it, Giving Tuesday is one of those awkward made-up days that pushes you to spend money. Like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday, and holidays like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day (though the sentiment to celebrate your partner/mother/father is nice if it’s not too consumerized).
Admittedly, Giving Tuesday, like Mother’s Day, started quite nobly. Co-founded by a local YMCA in New York City in 2012, “Giving Tuesday” was an effort to celebrate generosity and encourage more people to give of their time and resources. That’s a beautiful concept, and the nonprofit that spun off to support this kept everything in the creative commons, so the fact that this has become so ubiquitous that many of you probably don’t even open emails that say “Giving Tuesday” on them is understandable.
But just because Giving Tuesday has become ubiquitous doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad: it depends on whether it focuses your annual giving, nudging you to support organizations you value, or just guilts you into giving. Last year, I wrote a reflection playing off the Buddhist parable about the rich man who expected high praise for giving a big bag of gold to a monastery. The monk’s response, when the donor demanded gratitude, was: “the giver should be thankful.” I deeply believe that and now ask myself before giving to any organization: Am I thankful for this opportunity to support their work?
Central Questions
So this Giving Tuesday I ask you to consider a few questions:
- During the time you’ve been reading these weekly reflections, have any changed how you think, act, live, or relate to Earth?
- If you’ve joined an event, has the connection to a community, to a speaker, a book or idea affected your life? Perhaps even sparked a new friendship?
- Are you thankful for the Gaian Reflections and Gaian Community?
If you answered with a yes, I invite you to support this work. This past year we incorporated as a tax-deductible organization—the Gaian Way—and we would benefit greatly from your support. Whether that’s a few dollars, or a larger gift, even a symbolic amount of support means a lot to a young organization like ours. And for those who have given of their time and money this past year, we are truly grateful—thank you.
Introducing our new Gaian Partnership Coordinator
What will your gift support, you wonder? Well, The Gaian Way actually just hired a new part-time Partnership Coordinator to strengthen our relationship-building and to help connect our Gaian community to other groups and networks cultivating ecospirituality around the world and working to heal Gaia. We are a small community—and I like to think we play an important, even outsized, role normalizing/celebrating an Earth-centric spirituality and a “Gaian” way of living. But woven into a larger network of change agents, we can make an even bigger difference. So I’m pleased to announce that Jeremiah Jones, a student at Drury University and author of this beautiful Gaian Reflection, will be working quarter-time to help develop stronger ties with a variety of ecosprituality groups, interfaith environmental networks, and essential yet undervalued environmental efforts like nuclear guardianship and stopping nuclear proliferation, like supporting dark skies, and encouraging degrowth (of both the economic and population varieties).
I’ve been fortunate enough to subsidize this Gaian community through my sustainability consulting, though truth be told, that isn’t, err, sustainable, long-term. For this work to continue into the future, it needs the support of many hands, rather than a few. Growing this work and this community, I hope will expand the Gaian Way’s reach, and further develop this fledgling community into something lasting.
So this Giving Tuesday, if you haven’t already supported the Gaian Way this year, I invite you to make a donation to support these weekly writings, and the deepening and the expansion of the Gaian community.
Of course I’d be thankful. And I hope you will be thankful for the opportunity to contribute as well. But remember, please don’t give out of obligation, but only out of thanks.
Go with Gaia,
Erik
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