On Giving

tldr: A short reflection on what it means to give of yourself. And why you are the gift worth giving. 

But first, let me remind you to register for BOOST Your Practice, (because New Year Resolutions never work!) 

And I am also excited to share that Tuesday, my beloved, is launching a four-week series on the Divine Feminine. A dive into Nature-Based Goddesses, Goddesses of Light and Abundance, and Goddesses of Darkness and Depth from a variety of traditions and cultures. 

There are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue…

Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.

-Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

The season has me thinking of Kahlil Gibran. My namesake. (As well as my brother’s! His name is Khalil.)

In his beloved book The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran spoke to us “On Giving.”

You don’t need another online piece on the traps of consumerism. Or on how our ancient solstice rituals were hijacked by imperialism.

And I’m not going to lie to you. I’m getting lists from my family. I’m doling out some material gifts. And I’m sure I’m getting some too.

And it will be sweet. And I’ll let my heart feel good.

But the Prophet says that “it is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”

And so it is a good idea to ask what is it that is yours to give?

What does it mean to give of yourself?

What is it that is held in your heart that is already a gift?

What if the season of giving is the season for us to ponder what is truly yours to give?

It has to be more than our possessions, because nothing is truly ours anyway.

It certainly has to be more meaningful than anything we could buy. And it is something even deeper than the giving of our time.

So what does it mean to give of yourself?

We have to be careful here. There are so many of us that are endless givers in a world of takers. So many of us that have not quite found the liberating power of our “no.”

I’m not talking about that type of giving. The one that exhausts you and breaches your boundaries.

I’m talking about the gift that can only be given when you look within yourself. And sense the light of your own presence. And you know that love is there. No matter how you’ve been hurt. No matter how many times. Love is there. Right at the source. The light that permeates the darkness.

This is the gift of your very essence.

Your inherent worthiness. Your unbreachable wholeness.

It is not all the things you "do" when you believe that you have to “earn your keep” upon this Sacred Earth. No. It can never just be about what you “do.”

It has to be about who you are.

It is the gift that was given to you before you drew your first breath.

When you come to know that gift. The gift that’s within your Self. Baked into your very being. That’s the gift that makes you a gift. When you know this. When you really, really know this. Generosity becomes life giving. It becomes a well of abundance that replenishes itself.

Recognize yourself. Sense into your light. Smile with your gaze. Let yourself get quiet enough to share your presence without reservation. Knowing that your breath is sacred. And that it is this very life force that gives of itself through you.

Be the vessel.

And you'll make the season Holy.

It is your presence that makes it Sacred.