Dear Friends,
Happy Passover to my fellow Jewish members. Chag Pesach Sameach!
Gardens are abloom for all of us these days, no matter what part of the country we live in. And nature presented us with other wonders in the past month. A rare earthquake rattled the Northeast on April 6th. A few days later, a solar eclipse was visible all across America.
The photos at the top and bottom of this newsletter were taken at a TTN Board of Directors meeting at a hotel in Charlotte. We paused our strategic planning session and raced outside to see an 83% eclipse -- wearing glasses provided by Pat Bertell, a Director from the Long Island chapter.
With the unrelenting stream of challenges affecting the world today, I found the drama provided by the natural world this month to be a relief. The earthquake and eclipse reminded me that people aren’t the boss of everything. And the big smiles on people’s faces as they looked up at the sky on April 8th reminded me that we human beings are wired for connection. Getting out of our own heads and having a meaningful experience with other people always makes us happier.
Meaningful experiences don’t have to be rare, of course. We can feel a sense of purpose and connection any day of the week by doing something to help other people. Research shows that “giving back” often helps the giver just as much as it does the receiver. Acts of kindness and generosity are powerful medicine that boost our mental and physical health and can even make us live longer.
We are born with an innate desire to be helpful. Even toddlers get joy out of sharing. Greek philosopher Aristotle once said that the essence of life is “to serve others and do good.” Pretty much everybody accepts that helping people in need is a nice idea.
But in her groundbreaking work on sources of happiness, social psychologist Elizabeth Dunn found that the WAY in which we do good makes a big difference in the amount of joy we get from it. Dunn and others have found that helping other people makes us happiest when we have an opportunity to have personal connections with the folks whose lives we’re improving. Her take-away: "Let's stop thinking about giving as just this moral obligation and start thinking of it as a source of pleasure." You can watch Dunn’s TED Talk here.
The experience of volunteering with other people also has a powerful effect on our happiness. Many of our members say that the main reason they joined TTN was to find a group of women with whom to get involved in charitable and social causes. Volunteering is a vibrant source of connection within our chapters.
One of the questions discussed by the Board at our meeting in Charlotte was whether TTN should have a role as an advocate for certain women’s issues. Advocacy can take many forms, from simply raising awareness within TTN on one end of a spectrum to contacting members of Congress on the other.
As the Board explores how TTN’s mission could lead us toward some kind of advocacy position, it would value your point of view. We hope you’ll share your thoughts in this brief survey. Because we're a member-driven organization, your opinions really matter.
The sun is shining here in Brooklyn and I'm inspired by the way leaves are appearing on trees and dogs are chasing each other in Prospect Park in the same way trees and dogs have done since they have been on the earth. Life goes on! I am inspired by all of you too. The culture of open-mindedness, kindness and generosity we nourish here at TTN is a precious part of our DNA, and I am always grateful for it.
If you need a shot of energy and positivity, I encourage you to join me in getting out into the sunshine today. Maybe put on a little sunscreen before you go out.
With affection and respect,
Darla Hastings
Executive Director