Interview with an anonymous donor

I decided to work on John Bloom’s interview with the anonymous donor because I believe that donating anonymously is one of the highest standards of philanthropy. This truly connected with me as I realize that being an anonymous donor is a very hard thing to do, and I wanted to learn from this donor about how I can personally practice such an act. The two things that stood out to me from the interview were the donor’s interest in meditation and her belief in the paradigm shift.

 The donor believes that meditation guides her towards the right path. Even though she’s careful about using the word spiritual, she does believe in having an enlightened mind. She has trained for various years, by herself and with a Tibetan lama, to improve her meditation skills.  She believes that the process of meditation cleanses her and lets her soul learn from her mistakes. This allows her to connect with not only her inner soul but also with the soul of the universe and this is what allows her to be philanthropic.

The donor also believes that we are in a paradigm shift. She explains it very nicely in terms of how a human grows from child to an adult and experiences change in his views and personality. She equates the world to being at that stage where it is just getting out of its teenage years – years of arrogance, denial, and a lot of ego. She says the world is at a stage where a human is when they enter their 20s. They understand their parents better and realize that they still have a lot to learn and discover. She believes that the people who can observe this shift have to be the ones to build a bridge for a smooth transition into this new world. And hence she is a part of the philanthropic world, doing her part to allow for a good transition.

I really enjoyed reading about this donor, her learning process and why she believes in philanthropy, As a person who wishes to be a part of the philanthropic world one day, it was a wonderful interview that told me to believe in my inner soul and my instinct and help the world move forward.