At my core, I feel a deep sense of moral and ethical responsibility to help others.
This is my compass and my “why.” I come from a privileged background, I recognize it, and I feel a strong obligation to contribute something meaningful in the time that I have.
I care a lot about people, and I care a lot about the environment that surrounds and connects us.
The essence of the mission I am on is this
- To help alleviate some of the emotional and physical suffering in people’s lives (including my own) — from my family, neighbors, and friends, to the poorest people in the world.
- To help shift the culture from viewing climate change as an impossible problem to solve, to viewing it as a solvable problem— and to inspire as many people as I can to wake up every day and get to work solving it.
- To become the loving witness of my fears, desires, needs and dreams. And to act ethically and compassionately as I move through the world.
Here are some ways in which I currently go about moving my mission forward.
1. Alleviating suffering
For my family, neighbors, and friends
-
- Promoting mindfulness. Self-love. And compassion.
- Being there when it counts for the people I care for.
- Smiling to strangers, and engaging in conversation with them.
- Showing people they are not alone, that we’re in this together. That we’re all experiencing pain. That we can learn to be with it. And that as we do, it can even alleviate some of the pain.
For the poorest people in the world
- By giving significant yearly donations to the most effective charities in the world, according to the principles and recommendations of effective altruism–which uses evidence and careful analysis to find the most effective causes in the world. Last year it was Against Malaria Foundation.
2. Changing perspectives on climate change
I publish a bi-monthly newsletter on the latest innovations in clean technology called Cleantech Rising. Zoheb Davar and I have been publishing this for over 3 years, creating content to teach and inspire action in the lives of people who are passionate about protecting the environment.
3. Becoming a loving witness
I practice loving kindness and mindfulness meditation as a way to soften and open up to the full spectrum of the human experience.
I’ll let Jack explain this below as he can do a much better job than I.
If you don’t want to listen to the whole talk, you can find the bullet points here.