Giving Tuesday is a generosity movement with core values rooted in selflessness. It seeks to support and give to the community around us, and globally with the help of the Giving Tuesday Organization. The first Giving Tuesday took place in 2012, as a response to the rampant self-driven consumerism surrounding Black Friday, and the subsequent Cyber Monday.
Recent price increases have made me stop and think about where it is I want to put my money, and if I really need all the things I think I need. This reflection, caused by external factors, has been a very positive thing. As I reflect on all that I do have instead of what I don’t, I find myself more connected to the Giving Tuesday movement, and the morals it has.
Happiness is cultivated from within. Loving, kindness, gratitude and sharing are all acts that give us far more joy than consumerism and fad purchases, while building character and showing us what happiness truly is. Times are tough right now, and I am in no way trying to understate that reality. In this difficult period, many of us find ourselves purchasing small gifts and things as a reward for the financial, emotional and multitude of other hardships that we work through every day.
Generosity brings happiness at every stage of its expression. We experience joy in forming the intention to be generous. We experience joy in the actual act of giving something. And we experience joy in remembering the fact that we have given.
GAUTMA BUDDHA
Changing the way you shop, and the ways in which you reward yourself is not an easy feat, nor one that will occur overnight. But supporting the people around you, as well as those you do not know, can fundamentally change the reality for all of us.
Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday all take place in the span of 5 days. On Friday we are encouraged to buy, to race to the deals, to get what we can at the lowest price. Cyber Monday is an extension of that, with deals being featured online, inciting people to continue shopping and spending. Giving Tuesday instead asks us to look at what it is that we can give, what we can share. It can be a small kindness, or a larger gift. The size does not matter, what does is the intention behind the act. Do not give to fulfill a quota but give because you care.
In honour of Giving Tuesday, The Interpreter’s Lab will be donating one full Premier Membership* to be drawn on December 15th. And for our current Premier Members, we will give an additional 20% discount (in addition to the current membership benefit of 15% discount) on any current or upcoming course – for 35% off course fees ($350 savings)**.
Both prizes will be drawn on Thursday, December 15th.
We are also instituting the gift of Premier Membership as a Giving Tuesday annual event.
If you are interested in submitting your name for the draw, please complete this form and your name will be entered. We will contact you via email.
*Note that you must not currently be a member to be eligible for this Membership Gift.