Headquarters

Seratonin spill

Agent 1718

A few secret agents were out to dinner Friday night at the oh-so-lovely Henry Public, discussing Ghost Busters, lady rockers, and philanthropy among other favorite topics. Our waiter was a truly adorable man, playfully sporting suspenders and a big smile. He was very patient with our strange requests, like "What do you get if you eat the fish eyeballs that come with the whole trout dinner special?" (Answer: a shot of whiskey.) So, we decided it was high time he got inducted into the society. His response was immediate. The next morning he wrote:

"When you gave me this opportunity, you definitely changed the course of my night and possibly more, I guess depending on where this endeavor takes me. I think pretty much right before I came over to your table I was telling my coworker that I needed to go to my acupuncturist.  She asked if I was hurting, and I just said mentally, and then turned around and greeted your table with a smile. Starting with the "what if I eat the eye?" question, that smile started to become "my" smile, and not a work smile. Its always nice to have a group of people that remember what it is to go out and be with their friends and interact with the people around them as people too. So thanks!  And then you dropped a hundred bucks on me with creativity as the goal and my brain spilled serotonin."

We're hoping that the spillage won't be BP-like, and instead be funneled strategically into helping people's lives feel easier and more creative, and the whole world a little kinder. Welcome to the family mister suspenders!

Found/Awesome

Agent 1718

This little, abandoned cabinet had big ideas on the corner of 91st Street and 3rd Avenue yesterday.

Compassion and Culpability

Agent 1718

I was talking to one of the secret agents the other night at dinner and we stumbled upon an interesting insight. He had just been reading and writing about Martha Nussbaum's Upheavels of Thought in divinity school. Apparently Nussbaum (who can we all agree is unarguably gangsta?) argues that compassion often springs forth in the absence of culpability. In other words, we often feel the most compassion when we don't feel any sense of responsibility. This, in part, explains why people give so generously following natural disasters, like the earthquake in Haiti. 

Over the years I've noticed a real distinction between agents who give their $100 to a perfect stranger(s)--buskers in the subway, kids forced to read boring books, passerbys in Bryant Park--and those who donate to a great friend--Ben's tricked-out guitar pedal, a long lost high school friend with two kids and a lot of hard knocks, URLs for compadres with big dreams. The latter doesn't necessarily suggest culpability, but there is more intimacy in it. Does that make it a more rare form of philianthropy? 

Tikkun Olam and Clearing Plates

Agent 1718

Last night I spoke about SSCP at (get ready for a serious mouthful here agents) the Jewish Federations of North America National Women's Philanthropy Spring Board Retreat. In essence, it was about 75 incredibly energetic, beautifully dressed women from all over the country who are committed philanthropists, specifically interested in tikkun olam (repairing the world) and tzedakah (charity and social justice). Right on.

I got all sorts of wonderful feedback from the ladies about the importance of the work we're doing to hook the next generation into giving. Turns out that we're sort of rebranding philanthropy, as the folks in the room recognized. One of the great insights for me was that while it's important for young people to have a creative, joyful experience of philanthropy, in addition to learning about more long term, sustainable movement building practices, it's also important for older, more veteran philanthropists to have opportunities to interject their giving with a little spontaneity and fun every once in awhile. It's not an either/or situation but an and/both!

Perhaps my favorite moment of the night came when most of the banquet hall had migrated to the hotel bar. The wait staff of the Westin in Jersey City, where the event took place, stayed behind to tell me how much they appreciated the Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy. They assured me that they never hang out and listen to the speeches during the galas that they work, but this time, they couldn't help but stick around and learn more. It was beyond affirming. 

I look forward to a continued conversation with both the wait staff at the Jersey City Westin and the ladies of JFNA!

Born to Be Good

Agent 1718

Hey secret agents. I've been reading Dacher Keltner's fascinating book, Born to Be Good, and I thought I'd share this little nugget:

Perhaps more remarkable are the feelings evoked in hearing of others' kindness--the swelling in the chest, goosebumps, and occassional tearing. Jonathan Haidt has called this state elevation, and he argues that we're wired to be inspired by hearing the good acts of others. Through touch, cooperation and kindness can spread across people and physical spaces within seconds. The emotions that promote the meaningful life are powerfully contagious, which increases their chance for propagation, and their encoding into our nervous systems and their ritualization into cultural practice.