"Speech after long silence; it is right." - Yeats
Imagine your favorite vacation place. Perhaps it is a cottage by the sea, or a chalet in the mountains; perhaps it is a path in the woods that you have walked since you were a child; or perhaps it is ranch under the big sky where you can see to the horizon by starlight. (Mine is a wooden raft floating in a cold spring fed pond surrounded by silent pines, high in the Green Mountains. There are trout in that pond and a small waterfall, as water flows out from the pond, over a dam, and down onto a marble slab and quartz gravel. The first time I lay on that raft I was age 8; the most recent time was now. I am writing this piece in that spirit.)
Are we talking about philanthropy yet? No, we are not.
Imagine that you are in your vacation place and in that frame of mind, with someone you love. No computer, no cell phone, no jangle in the brain. You have been on vacation for a few days and your mind has cleared. The time has grown late. You have been reflecting on where you came from in life, where you are now, and where you might go in the time you have left. You have been reflecting on your family, career, and on society, the way thing are going. You have felt twinges of grief, joy, regret, even perhaps a touch of guilt at things unsaid or things undone. Yet you have done a lot right, too. You are what people would call a success. You have the capacity and the ability to set an example, to lead, to "rally what remains" and to do more.
No one has said anything for the last 40 minutes. Perhaps in peace with one another, staring together into the fire, or floating on that raft, seeing the stars move, nothing needs to have been said. Now, you rouse yourself and say,
"You know, I have been thinking....."
Are we talking about philanthropy yet? No, we are not.
At certain moments in our lives, moments that used to be called, "existential moments," we achieve life defining clarity, and marshal our resources to the highest ends we are capable of conceiving, much less achieving. The ends in view may be personal, or for family, or for our company, our local community, or for the country, or even for an international cause.
Are we talking about philanthropy yet? No we are not.
These moments of clarity may be few, but they define a life, the clarity of direction, the marshaling of resources and the courage to pursue the dream where it leads. These moments come not just to the wealthy, nor just to generals, statesmen, and politicians. They come also to the artist, the poet, the scholar, the religious leader, and the mother or father, kneeling down to see eye to eye with a child.
Are talking about philanthropy yet? No we are not.
We are talking about what it is to be gifted, to be touched with the graciousness of a gift that has grown within us, passed down to us, or seeded in us and cultivated, by those who went before. We are talking about passing on a tradition, living up to it, frankly, and passing it on intact and enhanced to those who are here now and will come after us.
Are we talking about philanthropy yet? No, we are not.
We are talking about vision, values, virtues, and excellences. We are talking about how you may make a personal decision, from what is deepest in you, to take a positive life-changing step in your own life, that of your immediate family, and of our society. How you do that, if you do that, is up to you. It all depends.
Are we talking about philanthropy yet? No, we are not.
We could be talking about so many things next. But only when that moment of clarity comes, and you say, "You know I have been thinking...." Depending on what you have been thinking, we may soon be talking about, say,
- Down-shifting out of a less than fully satisfying career
- Selling a business and starting a new one
- Starting a nonprofit venture
- Organizing friends and neighbors for a cause
- Assuming a leadership role on a board
- Tossing it all over, and going in pursuit of Gauguin on some tropical isle with your paintbox and easel in hand
- Making a gift of time and money to nonprofit in which you are actively engaged
- Running for political office, or the PTA
- Taking time out to volunteer for children
- Writing a book
- Mentoring heirs
- Holding a family meeting to build and share a sense of direction.
Are we talking about philanthropy yet? You tell me.
Whatever we are talking about it, it begins in a vacation frame of mind, as an upwelling from what is deepest and most alive in you. That is the conversation we need to have. After that, who knows what we will be talking about. You tell me. It all depends. But whatever it is, I bet it will be good. And we can always call it philanthropy, if you want.
