I wrote the following to my newsletter and thought after finishing it that it would work as a post, so here it is. I forgot to mention that volunteering has come to replace time I used to spend watching TV or on social media. Since Americans average over five hours of screen time per day and I don’t have a TV or use social media, I spend less time per week volunteering than the average American spends on screens per day.

Maybe I should volunteer more, but I’d prefer Americans spend more time away from screens. I don’t see the latter happening any time soon. Artificial intelligence will increase it. If you think otherwise, please bet me so I can have free money.

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Do we need reasons to volunteer? Yesterday, as I walked to the store to pick up their food donation and from the store to the group that distributes it (Food Not Bombs), I muttered under my breath how much I wish spring had arrived.

The temperature was around 50F (10C). In February, that temperature would feel great, but the day before yesterday had hit 80F (26.6C) and I felt miserable.

Until I arrived at the Food Not Bombs site. They saw me with all the food to donate and greeted me with open arms. I reminded them it wasn’t my food, nor did I pay for it. I just filled the cart with the store’s overstock and carried it over. They didn’t care. They just kept thanking me.

They warmed my heart and the rest of me from the inside. I went from feeling miserable to on top of the world.

When the pandemic began, I remember Sam Harris on his podcast (I forget the guest) responding to the widespread advice to make sure to take care of ourselves. He said that research found that we predict poorly what will make us feel better. We think self-care will, like time to relax, get a massage, etc will make us feel a lot better, but research shows we generally don’t feel better after. By contrast, before volunteering or acting in service of other, we don’t often expect to feel that great, but afterward, it boosts our mood significantly.

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Here I am doing some glamorous volunteer work, dumping food scraps into the collection bin for composting.

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