Being a World Citizen by Giving Locally

Hello, Mr. Clinton. With "Giving" you have hit upon a wonderful idea. That is not only because giving is the thing that will solve our world problems but also the thing that will solve one of the greatest individual problems of our time: loneliness.

My story is partly about the end of loneliness by learning to give but it is also about other things.

I once travelled the world and did this for very many years. During seven of those years I worked in international aid and believed that by working as a consultant in this field that I could somehow give to the world, perhaps even contribute to saving it. Yet I did not find that working in the conventional aid world (government to government) was really about giving to the people who needed it. Rather, it was about giving to consultants and governments. I therefore ended my engagement in that world and retreated to a small island in order to be with myself and figure out what to do next.

The island was very isolated and I lived there alone with my husband and twins. It was sometimes a difficult life. However, it awakened a very important realization for me. By observing and daily being a part of nature on this small island, I realized that I was truly a part of this beautiful creation and, as such, had a responsibility to do something.

I decided to begin giving my time freely to deliver the one skill that no one else in this area has: English language. Throughout my many travels I realized that our inability to communicate with one another is an enormous road block to greater understanding. I have now taught school children in Sweden English language by story-reading voluntarily for 5 years. It is one of the most satisfying experiences of my life.

I also began to write about what nature and the willingness to follow our individual convictions can give us in life. My book was published in the United States by Penguin and today I find that I have an ongoing conversation with very many readers.

Today I believe that all of us can do something to give to our world, but that doesn't mean you need to travel the world. You can give the world by just looking outside your front door each day and figuring out what it is that you can do.