How to be generous
It can be hard, when times are tough. But givers always gain.
I have a friend who is an artist.
She was going through a bad patch, commercially, and had sold no work for a couple of months. Which was tough, because her art is how she pays the bills and feeds her family.
So when she was approached to donate one of her works to an auction raising money for a charity she liked, her first response was, “No, I can’t afford it right now.”
Sitting in her studio looking at her unsold work, however, she realised that she could afford to be more generous. Sure, there was an investment on her part. The canvas, the paint, and especially the framing — it all costs money. Then there was the rent on the studio, and her time.
But that was all spent, whether she donated or not. So she called the fund-raiser, and invited her to come to the studio and choose a piece for the auction.
The painting went for quite a sum on the night.
Almost double her normal price, which was a real boost at a time when she’d been feeling low. Then she got a call from the bidder who had been runner-up. He still wanted one of her paintings, so he bought it directly from her.
