JULIA MOTYKA

 I’ve had a meditation practice for sixteen years, and a yoga practice for twenty-two. Every day I espouse the virtues of honesty, integrity, compassion, and generosity yet, when push came to shove and I found myself needing to lean on those practices, I abandoned them in favor of scarcity—a selfish kind of fear. Who I would I be, I wondered, if I turned toward the things that scared me, instead of running away? Who would I be if truly embodied the practices I preach?

And so, The Generosity Experiment was born. I woke up the next morning with fourteen prompts for fourteen days of generosity of spirit. While finding ways to give financially is, was, and ever will be an important part of the practice of generosity, these prompts are all non-monetary. This series strives to reach people irrespective of their financial situation and cultivate a community of curious givers; of spiritually generous friends and neighbors. The original experiment runs the length of our initial quarantine period and is meant to be done daily, but can always be taken on individually at your leisure. I’ve enjoyed revisiting them many times now. They always ground me, open me, and remind me of who I strive to be.