This past weekend, several of us had the opportunity to attend a Wisdom 2.0 conference in San Francisco. There were many lessons learned, but the biggest of all for me was the power of small, and the power of giving with no strings attached. With roughly 1,800 attendees from all over, it was neat to see a gathering of folks all interested in exploring how to live with more presence, meaning, and mindfulness in the technology age. Yet the moments that really dug deep for me, were the ones that happened off the main stage—the ones that came alive through the simplicity of giving—of our time, presence, and selves.

Friday: A Subtle Shift

After an action-packed opening morning, and listening to several talks on the main stage, by mid-afternoon, I started noticing myself feeling exhausted and overwhelmed by all the ideas spinning around. My head was pounding, and I was unable to pay attention to any more of the talks people were giving. Luckily, Krishan had set up a group text, so I texted everyone: "I need energy! Any ideas to spread love?" In a few minutes we had gathered out front for a group hug! Then, Bhoutik and I took a walk around and decided to pick up some things to tag people. We got a box of sesame-chocolate snacks, and, as we walked in the conference area, noticed a bunch of volunteers who looked really tired. We decided to share our appreciation with them!

"Thank you for volunteering. We really appreciate all the work you've put into this. Would you like a snack?" we asked.

As we went around giving out snacks, something shifted, in me and in the people we were interacting with. Suddenly, it was as if we were all becoming family. Giving out snacks, giving group hugs, learning each others' names-- there is something powerful about connecting over kindness rather than connecting over a project or ideology or agenda. When you connect with someone over an act of kindness, you make a heart-to-heart connection--a human connection-- that is a reflection and reminder of the human spirit. Of our interconnectedness!

We ran out of snacks pretty quickly, so then we went back to the store and got 2 more boxes of them! And we got a special vegan/gluten-free snack for one volunteer who had dietary restrictions. She was super touched, and we ended up connecting with her quite a bit over the next couple of days. On Sunday, she even tagged a fellow conference-goer with a bouquet of flowers! :)

In the span of two hours of doing this, I suddenly had so much energy, no more headache, and found myself with an open, smiling heart. Earlier that day, Leah had set aside a box of Dharma Comic books to gift-away, and she gave a bunch of us each a few books each to tag people with! I gave mine to two volunteers, who were so moved. After I explained that the book had been gifted to me and I wanted to gift-it-forward, one of them said, "I love books! Thank you so much, I'm going to read this and then pay-it-forward!" We ended up running into her over the next couple of days as well, and a couple times she shared really genuinely: "Thank you so much! I will never forget you guys. Now, whenever I go to a conference or event, I am going to notice and thank the volunteers."

And the spirit kept growing! That evening, about eight of us went to get dinner, and someone anonymously paid the bill for our entire table! We definitely felt like family, and even ran into a volunteer we had interacted with earlier that afternoon. She gave us a big hug and we gave her a flower. :)

Saturday: The Power of Small Acts

The conference had round tables set up for people to sign up to host conversations on a topic of their choice. After attending a few hosted conversations and feeling a need to hold a space for small acts, Bhoutik signed us up to hold a conversation on "Power of Small Acts of Kindness" on Saturday morning!

Then we thought, "If we're going to talk about small acts of kindness, we should do them too!" So we picked up flowers and chocolates on the way to the conference that morning, then decorated the table with the flowers and gifted chocolates to everyone who came. Sarika and Krishan kicked it off with stories of acts of kindness they've experienced. Slowly, people joined, and we ended up having conversations for two hours, as people came and left, we talked well into lunch! In the midst of that, we met a woman from Australia, a man from Chicago, San Diego, a few folks from Marin, several friends of ServiceSpace, and beyond! Though many of us were just meeting for the first time, as we shared, it felt like we were an old group of friends laughing and sharing stories.

And the conversation incubated some small acts and shifts of heart. Later on, I found out that one woman had saved her chocolate for the whole day, and brought it home with her to gift to someone. She came our closing Awakin circle on Sunday after the conference. Another man said, "In Hebrew, we call small acts of kindness a mitzvah." Then he stared off for a minute, deep in thought, and remarked, "I don't know the last time I did a mitzvah."

And, in the midst of all this, a bunch of us went to listen and cheer Leah on as she gave an amazingly brave and honest talk about her journey and drawings on love.



We had a bunch of chocolates left over from the morning, so we decided to do some more volunteer and worker-appreciation tagging again in the afternoon. We started going around offering chocolates and thanking folks for all their hard work and time to make everything happen.

We went up to one security guard and said, "Thank you for being here and doing what you do. We really appreciate it. Would you like a chocolate as a token of our gratitude?"

He looked us square in the eye and said, softly, "No need for the chocolate. That was enough."

That was enough. We both walked away a little stunned. I realized then that gifts are just an excuse-- that at the root of it, so many people just want to be seen and heard-- just want to connect on a human level. And giving gifts is simply a means to connect, an instrument through which we can see another person and give them the gift of our presence, our understanding and love.

And it's funny how you receive what you put out. Later that evening, when re-entering the venue for the evening event, Bhoutik realized he forgot his name badge. One of the security guards who we had met while gifting chocolates was standing there and said, "It's okay, I know this guy!" and let him in. :) (This makes me wonder: how much less paperwork we might have if we made more time to see and connect with each other...? :))

Serendipitous Sunday: Old Friends, New Friends and a River of Ripples

We walked in that morning and met Karuna, a Be-the-Cause volunteer, who incidentally was tagging people with fresh, warm pastries and anonymously leaving them in booths with a smile card. She had run into Dhaval earlier that morning, and he had given her some smile cards to go along with her pastries. We started talking and she ended up giving us one of her bag of pastries to give away! Then, we met these two 9-year-olds who started a donation-based lemonade stand to raise money to free child slaves. They were interviewed on the main stage, one of them, Vivienne, explained simply:

"It's a give-ness, instead of a business. We give lemonade, people give from their heart, and we give kids freedom."

Without any business plan or strategy-- just a pure intention and consistent dedication-- they've raised over 156,000 dollars and are still going strong! And low and behold, when we visited them at their booth, they had a bunch of pastries waiting for them with smile cards. :)



We started playing tag with the girls and a little while later, they started whispering to each other, grabbed two of the pastries and smile cards and gifted them to us! :) Bhoutik paid-forward his to a man at the booth next door and I paid-forward mine to Vivienne's father, who we ended up talking to for a bit.

He shared, "They asked me if I wanted to go on stage with the girls, and that's not my thing. I'm here to serve them and lift them up, that's all. I don't want to be seen."

During lunch, some more tagging action happened! :) We gifted snacks to the folks serving food in the catering line. In the span of a half hour, three different sets of folks—including the 9-year-olds—each tagged a new friend with a unique bouquet of flowers! :) While that happened, we tagged another new friend with a big group hug. One woman, who had reluctantly joined the group hug (commenting, "I don't know how to do a group hug") ended up being the last to let go. Smiling, she held on and said, "I don't want to stop." :)

By the end of the afternoon, I was starting to feel like I was at Karma Kitchen-- just finding so many spontaneous opportunities to see, serve, and shower people with love. At one point, we were in the Dharma Comics booth, and a little boy came up to us asking, "Do you have any smaller books for 10 dollars?" His mother had given him 10 dollars to spend on something.

Riding the waves of joy from all the giving from the day, Bhoutik and I looked at each other, dug into our wallets, and pulled up the 15 extra dollars to cover the rest of the costs for the book. How could we not?



Soon, the conference was coming to a close, and we went to meditate in a mini-Awakin circle for anyone who wanted. Throughout the conference, we had been having 30-minute Awakin circles twice a day. On the first day, there were about four or five of us. And on Sunday afternoon, there were about fifteen in our closing circle.

It was incredible to witness the journey and subtle shifts that have transpired over the last three days. I am left dumbfounded. I want to learn more. I am so grateful for the opportunity to spend time in a space of service at this conference, and to learn about how to use my "head, hands, and heart" in this spirit.

I realized the power of connecting. The importance of staying simple. How gifts are just an excuse to share and see each other. I just came across this Rumi quote, "Wherever you are, be the soul of that place." And I found it incredibly fitting. How, no matter where we are, if we keep our intentions simple, and approach others with an open mind and heart, we can tap into a deeper spirit-- a realization of our shared humanity, and the soul of being alive.

After the conference, a few of us went to visit CF mom and dad in Santa Clara. And were showered with so much love-- so much supportive sharing of reflections, an amazing meal, and the opportunity to do the dishes! I realized that serving others cleans my soul, that receiving the gifts and the presence of others fuels it, and that I don't know how I got so lucky to experience this, or what I did to deserve it all, but these questions are irrelevant because, as I once read, at the end of the day, the answer is always-- love. Always.

I hope I can keep learning and living this.