115. Spiritual Generosity: Uplift Your Community This Holiday Season

Welcome to Mind Power Meets Mystic, the show where practical mind power and mystical wisdom collide with humor and wild curiosity. Yeah, we're not here to play it safe.

I'm Cinthia Varkevisser, your resident spiritual shit disturber. I stir things up with mystic power and bold action.

And I'm Michelle Walters, executive coach and Hypnotherapist. I bring strategy and transformative hypnosis to help you turn subconscious blocks into unstoppable momentum.

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Welcome to Mind Power Meets Mystic, our weekly podcast with me, Michelle Walters, I'm the mind power, and Cinthia Varkevisser, our show mystic. We are excited today because it's the beginning of December, and we want to talk about giving because it's giving month, giving season, Giving Tuesday—all of those kinds of things are today. And so, with that, we thought we would bring you each a few tips on how to make the most of giving. Sound good, Cinthia?

Cinthia: It sounds fantastic. I think it's perfect because we're in a place right now where so many people are fatigued and not really sure what giving means, especially when it comes to gift-giving. What we're going to provide is a different way of looking at things, and maybe that will help for this season, which is what I'm hoping that we do.

Michelle: Great. So I'll start. My first tip is to give without expectation. One of the things I have learned across the myriad of experiences in my personal life is that it is better to just give and not worry if anything is coming back at all. And this isn't always easy. We live very much in a culture of "You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours." But in this scenario, in this case, people, I find—and I think most of the people I know find—that when you can just give from your heart without worrying about sort of what you might or might not get out of something, the better off the gift is going to be.

I try to live by this. I don't do this all the time, but one illustration of me being good about giving without any expectation was that I had a book giveaway last month. I just decided to give away 10 copies of my book. I don't know if these people really want my book, or their friends want my book, or what it'll mean to them, but I have no real expectation. It just felt good to go, "Wow, I could just give away some copies of my book." And so, you know, I think that's a nice example.

Cinthia: I agree. The thing that I love about it is you know that your book can help someone. And if someone is looking and finds themselves a little bit challenged in any way, shape, or form, it could be something as simple as not knowing how to ask or who to ask. To know that there's a resource and that you are the resource—I also want to remind people that there's a difference between scratching each other's back and reciprocity.

Reciprocity happens when you're being generous, and then in turn, my generosity feeds back into you, pours back into you. Reciprocity, which is so different than, you know, tit-for-tat and all these things, right? And when I think about you, Michelle, and your giving, I have a Michelle Obama—another Michelle’s—quote, which is, "Friendships between women, as many women will tell you, are built on a thousand small kindnesses swapped back and forth and over again."

Michelle: Beautiful. That's being Michelle Obama's namesake—yeah, what a great person to have as one's namesake.

Michelle: Cinthia, what's your tip for our listeners?

Cinthia: Mine’s on a similar path, which is to practice intentional generosity. Now, what you are saying is fantastic, because sometimes we are feeling very generous, and we just go ahead and give.

I love that intentional generosity, for me, is knowing that I have something to give and someone is in need, and to go ahead and give it to them. And that doesn’t have to be material. The thing that I love is—some people call it love bombing. I know that there’s a different, not-so-positive definition for love bomb, but for me, if I’m feeling it, it is writing a card, writing and sending a card, or leaving a voice message—which is actually my favorite—or a quick video of saying how much I love this person that I’m talking with and what they mean in my life.

To me, that is intentional generosity. And the beauty about intentional generosity is that you’re filling someone else up. And as I speak, I’m filling my own well as well.

Michelle: You are a queen of the "Let me just send you a video to say how special you are and how much you mean to me." I have received a couple of these videos, and they just make me feel glowy. They're just absolutely beautiful, Cinthia, and don’t stop. I’m encouraging more people to do this. It’ll just make more happiness and glowingness in the world.

Cinthia: I agree. I agree, yes, and I won’t stop, because it just feels so good. It feels so good.

Michelle: Awesome. Okay, so my second tip for giving this season is to give to those who need it most. And this might seem really obvious, but I think sometimes we get a little bit distracted with giving to people who we love, giving to our kids, giving to our friends, giving to, you know, our inner circle.

But sometimes, it's really the people who are the furthest from our inner circle who might need our help or might need a little extra nudge. And so, you know, this could take the form of, "Hey, let me go to a soup kitchen and volunteer for a day," or it could take the form of giving to a cause, or it could take the form of maybe even giving to somebody anonymously.

I think sometimes we don't think about the people who might really be struggling, and we focus on our family. But, you know, sometimes your family and friends are actually doing pretty okay, and maybe there's someone else who could use your help.

Cinthia: That is so beautiful, and I agree with you. I think that one of the things about giving is sometimes we want to see how the giving is received. But when you’re giving to someone who may not even know you or you might not get any feedback, it’s about really truly letting go of any kind of strings attached and saying, "This is for you because I see you or I feel you or I just want to contribute to your well-being."

Michelle: Yeah, and I think there's something to be said for doing it in a way where you’re not expecting gratitude. You’re not expecting acknowledgment, you’re just doing it because it feels good in your heart.

Cinthia: Agreed. I think that’s the key to generosity. The true heart of generosity is just that—giving because it feels good in your heart.

Michelle: Beautiful. Okay, Cinthia, what’s your second tip for today?

Cinthia: My second tip is something I try to live by, which is to give your presence. I think one of the things that we forget is how valuable just being present is.

Now, presence doesn’t mean just being physically in the room. It’s also about emotional presence, spiritual presence, and energetic presence. And this season, one of the best things you can do for someone is to really show up for them. Whether that’s listening to their story, whether that’s spending quality time with them, or even just sitting in silence with someone who might be going through something difficult, your presence is one of the most valuable gifts you can give.

Michelle: I love that, Cinthia. It really aligns with this idea of giving what you have in abundance. And for some people, presence is one of the most abundant things they can offer.

Cinthia: Absolutely. And the beauty is that it doesn’t cost anything except your time and your willingness to show up. And in return, you also get filled up because when you’re truly present, there’s this energetic exchange that just naturally happens.

Michelle: That’s so true. I think we often underestimate how powerful our presence can be.

Cinthia: Exactly. And especially during the holidays, when everyone’s rushing around, it’s easy to forget that sometimes just sitting with someone and being fully there for them is worth more than any gift you could buy.

Michelle: Absolutely. Well, I think we’ve given our listeners some pretty solid tips for this giving season.

Cinthia: I agree! Hopefully, this inspires people to think about giving in new and meaningful ways.

Michelle: So, listeners, we encourage you to take these tips to heart and find your own unique ways to give this season. Whether it’s giving without expectation, practicing intentional generosity, giving to those who need it most, or simply giving your presence, remember that your generosity has the power to make a real difference.

Cinthia: Yes! And we’d love to hear how you’re practicing generosity this season. Feel free to share your stories with us—we’d love to celebrate your giving spirit!

Michelle: Thank you so much for tuning in to this week’s episode of Mind Power Meets Mystic. Until next time, keep giving, keep growing, and keep being amazing.

Cinthia: Take care, everyone.