I'll Keep Walking and Talking...

I think the apple's rotten right to the core

From all the things passed down

From all the apples coming before

~ Charli XCX (feel free to dance along)

*WARNING: The following post is meant for 1st connections and people who care about this insufferably petulant philanthro-dork ( you should probably go )

Ah, burnout. How convenient for the transmission of the soul and the alternator of my career to conk out at the same time. Add to that the emotionally-colonoptic journey of grief that has caused my heart to become a sail that seems to catch wind of only pain.

Optimus was smart to protect the Matrix of leadership behind American Steel.

My suits just weren't enough armour either.

As one of my longest business mentors Robin Sharma has said, pain can be purifying.

For those who clearly care about me... friends, over $10,000 in donations in the spirit of the WORD, to the CAGP Foundation and several of my other charities of choice after my resignation from CAGP was announced - THANK YOU

Over 50,000 reads and over 200 comments of pure uncut community care - I still haven't waded in to respond but on the many days when my health still has me off my feet; needles, blood, bile and the gnashing of teef in the dark. I read them and every word is like medicine.

*crying/dancing break - feel free to join*

I guess the apple don't fall far from the tree'

Cause I've been looking at you so long

Now I only see me

I wanna throw the apple into the sky

Feels like you never understand me

So I just wanna drive....

Charli again, seriously, you should dance.

And drive I will.

I'm hitting the road friends.

And I kind of don't want to tell you more.

But, these days more of my soul teachers are telling me that part of generosity - is letting people who actually care about you help you.

*clenches teeth, unclenches heart*

So just let me re-introduce myself. My name is Paul, you can call me The Generosity Guy

And I do 3 things well and 1 thing terribly

Speaking

So many of you know me as the instructor and public speaker. My Gladwell Outlier story was being Cathscripted into reading at a lectern at 13 in front of a congregation of hundreds weekly for a decade. And, I've MC'd so many absolutely legendary weddings and more conferences than I can count. The Generosity Guy was born just recently in a truly fun collaboration with an international Foundation launching in Canada.

I'm not available, I'm already overbooked this fall. And my heart has been broken by this sector, profession and our community too many times. It's gonna have to be a private party for a while, healing is the name of the game right now.

So, the password to this door is - Paul, I want to do better. I know you've been part of wicked-smaht teams and were part of ideas that took million dollar ideas past a billion ( the next one on it's way to a billion ) - can you help us think about what we do in a different way? With any entity engaged in public generosity, not just charities any more. You MUST be willing to have fun if necessary. There will be booger jokes and I may swear now, but every minute spent in conversation with me makes my learning hosts literal millions. CRA and StatsCan and 8 out 10 dentists agree, I have the keys to the bimma.

Sim Simma.

Teaching

The absolute joy of my career and for many years the goal of my life was to teach with the Canadian Association of Gift Planners. I literally summitted a mountain while learning with these people almost a quarter century ago. So, while I'll still be teaching ( Gift Planning for charities with famed deatheducator J.S.D. this fall, Philanthropy for Advisors in collaboration with Advocis, and the week-long course with SG in the spring of 2025, and working on more celebrity co-teaching with the future faculty of CAGP! ) but VERY part time...

You've seen me co-teach with organizations I deeply respect - like CPA Canada, CPA Ontario, every almost AFP Chapter in Canada, (Newfoundland and New Brunswick! So excited to visit and learn from you again), dozens of Community Foundations, the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy and one of the most meaningful efforts of my career, the creation of a new designation for advisors in tax, financial, estate and gift planning. I want to tell you I was channeling every one of my favourite CBC radio hosts in this heavy lift ( rescued by Golden Crab N- Eklins ) . And remember when Steve let me and a bunch of gift planning goons play with billion dollar ideas in his beautiful magazine?

So! Can I visit bring my classroom to your home room?

I'm so excited to go bother and reconnect with ideas that have inspired me for so long. Some in our sector, some in a realm beyond the temporal. So yes, think-tanks, associations, federated networks I'm ready to huddle up and think with you again.

We had fun, we're gonna do it again. Think a little less Bach, a little more Bowie.

Workshops

After my first TEDx Talk at my alma mater UofT last year - I finally took NETWALKING off-road from parks, lakeshores and conference-sneaking-around into the light! I've already done a few walking-workshops at conferences and soon, with teams across Canada. All because Nilofer Merchant said, "sitting is the new smoking".

And here's the road part of the work friends...

I have whined and whinged to LITERALLY hundreds of you that SOMEBODY needs to education Canadians and our community about how charity works and what's the difference between philanthropy, fundraising and generosity. And the place to do it is Canada's Boards of Trade and Chambers of Commerce

Nobody wants to do it. So I'm gonna. Already in conversations but I need help getting to where I'm needed. Can I help restart the engine of generosity in your town?

25 years in this work, as a part of awesome teams ( banks, popes and professional associations, oh my!) I want every person who is kind enough to give to charity to simply feel good that they made a damn difference in the darkness that threatens to eat us all alive right now. And I want to empower anyone with a generosity dream to dream DEEP ( not just big) and for any professional advisor who wants to help them transition from success to significance and generous ideas into community reality ... I want to show you how. Building on ideas like THIS

I'm coming to your town soon, hosted by fellow philanthrofarmers at Community Foundations, United Ways and advisor teams who now specialize in philanthropic planning.

Not Being a One Dimensional Networking D-Bag

Help me. I am drowning in the hypocrisy and harm hidden in plain sight in my bio.

I only read business books and listen to productivity podcasts and dream of marketing narratives. Until I stopped renting cars and put myself in the hands of my local hosts... and my life changed... In Tunder Bay, they took me to a Pancake House. In Regina, to a sausage factory ( not a metaphor ). In Montreal, Peggy told me to cross the street and try the liver. I cried with the owner the last time I was there*. ( *I cried, they asked me to pay the bill ).

I have told thousands what I think about titles. I have bought over 500 copies of this book to give away. And then I let "Vice-President" get stuck in my ears...what was that Al Pachino said? Vanity, my favourite sin. Who was he playing in that movie? I forget.

There is so much I can do friends. I am admittedly just terrible at having a life.

Ask my kids ( wait, I have kids?!)

So time to go back to my ancestral roots in Mississauga Ontario in the 1980's and following in the footsteps of the raddest nonprofit bad boy - David Hasselhoff - Did you not know that Michael Knight in Knight Rider was the just the program manager of a poorly-run Private Foundation with very flimsy HR policies?!!?!!!! Devon was coming from board meetings in the show people, he complained about an charitable audit when Michael got hurt by the son of the foundation's founder ( who surgically altered his face to look like his own son's as perverse donor-recognition). Do your own research but the mission is the same:

*cough - young loner *

Did you make it this far? Really?

Then.

I have a gift for you - NETWALK August 24

It's time for light and joy and walking and talking..

8am gather, this time at the ST. George TTC Bedford Exit

9am walk through the place and space of my home and heart until 11am

You have weeks and weeks of notice, it's LITERALLY outside the subway, on top of a city-run Green P safe parking lot and across from two coffee shops.

Look, some of you said some really embarrassing stuff to me in these comments. Yeah, and some of you said some racist stuff but good gracious, ALL THE WRONG PEOPLE apologized!!! My single greatest mentor and the only person to ever speak up when they said the thing - apologized... going to cuss them out later. The wrong people never show up at the right time. And that's cool.

Certainly not at 8am on a Saturday downtown!

Me, I'm walking again friends. Fell into a hole, and lifted out by a few hard-to-accept helping-hands and cared for by what is hard to believe, thousands.

* ego makes hissing noise, love kicks it in the face

I'm taking care, because I opened my professional fear to truth and reconciliation and The Circle said, walk with us. I would not be alive without the people of this land and their wisdom.

I'm meeting creators, artists and fellow lovers of the WORD. I've never been more scared and excited in my adult life. So many of you are hiding your art behind the business card - I hope you'll join me soon in the Pirate life... or in September at Word on the Street

... Or, on August 24

Until then... I can't say it enough thank you to every single one of you who f-king reached out in the dark and yanked my soul back to life (back to reality).

I've ALWAYS BEEN a violinist, a poet, a father, a brother, a bored member, a comic book collector, a Whovian, a New Gnu and I'll always be a friend to CAGP.

but I'm no longer a Vice-President

paulnazareth.com will have to be enough.

I'll keep walking. Should you chose, keep walking with me, you are always welcome.