Radical Generosity – A Review of More or Less

I read acknowledgments of books first. It’s an odd habit. But I like to know the team of people who worked on a book before I dive in. When I received Jeff Shinabarger’s new book More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity, I saw an unexpected line: Peter Greer, thanks for asking me for three years to write these stories and share them with others…

I am humbled that in some small way our conversations helped prompt this book. Jeff is one of my heroes and has a gift in asking questions and being “all in” as he creatively searches for answers. In More or Less, he weaves his own story with social experiments that call us to let go of the abundance of our culture. Ever wonder how many days you survive on just the existing food in your house? How many days would it take if you wore every piece of clothing in your closet once? In a culture that defines ourselves by what we have, Jeff brings us to a deeper understanding of the joy of generosity.

I asked Jeff a few questions, and he graciously responded to them. You’ll get a feel of who Jeff is through this blog, but More or Less is simply outstanding, and you need to read it.

 More or Less

What was the genesis of the idea that led you to write More or Less

For 2 years, I have been working on this project, More or Less. It’s a book about generosity. There are 50 stories from me and my friends wrestling with the question ‘what is enough?’ I remember showing a couple friends my first three chapters and was extremely nervous for their revisions. Needless to say, the first three chapters look nothing like what I sent them that day. They were not very good. I guess we learn something new everyday. We refined it. And a publisher actually wanted to print it. Our family left the country for three months to write the book. About 80% of it was written during my sabbatical in Nicaragua. My mind was clear of everything and it granted me the ability to write. When I began asking What is Enough, this critical question began to define my life. It is too easy to be taken over by desire. When I define enough, I step off the conveyor belt of consumerism and create a new intentional rhythm of life. Over time, advertisers, credit cards, and the quest for more lose their control over me. I no longer feel pushed around by others choosing my needs and wants. Sometimes less can do more.

What is one thing you’d like readers to take away from your book?

I hope More or Less is a beginning point to a conversation about generosity. I believe we all want to live a story that is greater than our own personal gain. This starts with asking the question what is enough? It may be one of the hardest questions to ask, but when you wrestle with the question, I believe your life becomes greater. I am a greater person today because of the generosity of others. I am also a greater person because I have been generous to others. I hope readers try a personal social experiment to challenge what is enough in some aspect of their lives. I hope this opens a conversation that is greater to their community about what they have been given and why. I hope that people that are suffering in the world gain access to basic needs in life. I hope this book inspires more generosity.

In a society so built on consumerism, how do we get rid of the clutter?

Every experiment in this book is NOT an example of me being an expert. It is an example that I have way more than I need. Is it hard to change? Yes. Do I have a perfect life today? No. Do I struggle still with wanting more? Everyday. This doesn’t make life easier or more convenient. But, it makes our lives more open to community and to the needs of others. The more things that we have in life does not translate into a richer life. When we give, we always gain. Generosity doesn’t always mean money. There actually isn’t any chapter about giving money in the book. Choosing a lifestyle of generosity means finding what you do have in excess and share that with people that could really benefit from it. If you have a house, are you hosting people in it? If you have time, how are you volunteering your expertise? If you have more clothes than you need, have you given any away lately? We try to create actionable projects in this book that retrain your mind about what you have been given, its not just about giving away money. Generosity is much more than money, it’s a lifestyle of love.

How do we know when enough is enough?

One thing I have learned is that drawing the line of enough is a subjective answer. My enough will never be the same as anyone else in the world. Granted, the easiest thing is to critique what others choose to have or not have, but that will not make your life any different. My enough is made up of a series of life experiences that have drawn my line and continue to redraw my line. Hopefully, this question is a continual debate in all of our personal lives and never fully resolved. The truth is I may want more than I have, but I usually don’t need more. The difference between want and need may result in extreme excess or deep suffering. Rockefeller was asked one time, “What is enough” and his answer was “a little bit more.”  Enough for me means that I am choosing everyday to be more generous with what I have been given and less selfish with my own desires.

What is one story from More or Less that most profoundly impacted you?

Often times, a relationship with one person can change how you see the world in a greater way than the largest audience that you influence.

We moved into East Atlanta Village. It has eclectic bars with the best sounds of up-and-coming musicians, and a community-operated bike shop. It’s a wonderful, diverse place to live. We were stepping up from a two-bedroom to a three-bedroom home. We just didn’t expect what would happen next.

When we moved into our house, it was only a few hours before a man rang the doorbell.  This was our neighborhood welcoming committee of one.

He had one of those smiles that implies he’s got some hard stories to tell.  His teeth were a little crooked, yet very white.  He was wearing a Cincinnati Red hat cocked to one side. My new neighbor’s name was Clarence, and as I learned that day, he was always “looking for work.”  I also learned quickly that Clarence worked hard. The difference between Clarence and many of my other neighbors is simply he had no home.

It’s not that I had never met a homeless person before. But this was different.  Clarence pushed me over the edge.  He was my neighbor.  I couldn’t get away from him.  And I liked him. The constant smirk of a smile got under my skin and into my heart.

Our relationship introduced a barrage of new questions for my life: How do I love my neighbor when my neighbor has no front door or even walls?  My previous worldview assumed my neighbor would be living in the same context as me: in a home.  I thought the fabric on our couch or our dinner choices may be different, but I never really imagined my neighbor without a refrigerator or a shower.

With one doorbell ring, all the ways I looked at my day-to-day life instantly changed.  Suddenly I saw my life through Clarence’s eyes.  What he saw looking through my front door was abundance.  I have not one but two living areas that anyone can actually see from the front door. I have air conditioning for those hot days in Atlanta.  I have a toilet and shower in each of my two bathrooms and I even have a washer and dryer for my clothes.  And speaking of clothes, my wife and I each have our own walk-in closet filled with them. Clarence didn’t have to say a thing to me.  Just having this new relationship in my life changed the way that I looked at what I have been given..

My material excess and his material need made for a confusing symbiotic relationship. We both knew there was no way that I could fully grasp what it would feel like to not have a physical place to sit down and process the day. But there was also an understanding that he could never fully understand the things that I own.  Our worlds were lived far apart, yet in the same square mile.

I wish everyone had the opportunity to know Clarence, or someone like him. They encourage us to a distinct change needed in our own lives. An unsettled ambition that we know needs to be different.

 

 

 

 

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