I Rather be generous is our name, is our attitude, is our navigation tool and our orientation. We believe that better stories make a better world. Our stories are about how we can be more generous in our work, in our thinking, in our daily lives. For us, generosity is not a list of rules but a collective endeavor that must be shaped and practiced again and again. We have developed all kinds of tools and techniques, such as thinking together in an affirmative conversation, and opening up our process, our sources, attempts, experiments and mistakes, so that others can learn from them. From our own practice as generous writers and thinkers, we seek out others to learn from them and to spread even more generous stories. 

 

Relevant for our generous practice is:

 

The Importance of the experiment: We know experiment is necessary to develop new forms of generosity in practice. We don't necessarily trust the given (structures). We experiment with an orientation instead of an hypothesis. Methods and tools, habits and techniques arise from experimentation.

 

The Tissue is the Issue: Everything is connected. It seems a general cliché, but it is true. Complexity, flux and diversity is the situation, it is the truth of being. You are always in and a part of the tissue, you can never hoover above it. 

  

I want you to trust me: Trust is the first requirement when working together. It opens up the mind to others. It asks of you to be trustworthy. It assumes a generous bond.  

 

Calm down, slow down, take your time: We tend to go full speed, and that’s what is often asked of us. There is no time to think and do what is important. This world exhausts us. We have to reconsider the value of taking your time in order to become attentive and …. generous. 

 

To be more attentive: Attentiveness is crucial, to focus on what is important in life and in the world. There cannot be generosity without attentiveness. 

 

What does it mean to work together? Working together uproots ego-driven division. In collaboration we might be able to find a tiny ‘we’ to begin with. We learn to be more attentive. It does not work without trust and a bit of fun.   

Explore the muddy road: Do not stop when the going gets rough. It can be both tiresome and hilarious. This road will teach you a lot, and might lead to the unexpected. 

Delights: Who does not want to be delighted? It makes work so much easier to create a bit of fun. Dining together, sharing a bottle, laughing about failures and mistakes, creating a warm togetherness, an open atmosphere. Laughing is wholesome, anyway.