generosity

I think the character quality I admire most is that of generosity. I don't believe it's a particularly natural quality. Anyone who's ever seen toddlers at play has, no doubt, seen that sharing does not come easily to wee humans. The toddlers are pretty up front about not wanting to share. Adults are more subtle, but no less selfish, I dare say.

There are the obvious opportunities for generosity-- typically around matters of money. Tipping for instance. On my date on Friday, the topic came up and we were both reassured by the fact that we both believe in generous tipping. And then there's tithing, charitable giving, spare change to a panhandler, and so on. But what of other areas of generosity? Time. Affection. Attention. Love. Care of others. Care of self.

And what about the other end of generosity? How good am I at receiving the generosity of another? Do I perceive and/or fear that there are strings attached? Can I accept a gift freely and innocently? Is my own generosity tainted by expectation? Having received of another's generosity, do I then come to expect continued generosity? Does generosity have to be personally costly to be valued?

Blather, blather, blah. I honestly did set out to remark on how I appreciate the quality of being generous, not to yammer on about the potentially complex undercurrents of generosity. Like a lot of things, in its purest form, generosity is true and beautiful, and, in its human expression, it's less than that. Alas.