The house was warm, what with the oven set at 450 and everyone home; it smelled good, that comforting yeasty smell of baking bread, and it was quiet. I tried not to pay attention to the quiet because that would surely jinx it. I could hear the kids playing an invented game not far off, so there were no worries. Russ and I worked quietly on our own pizzas, mine was gorgonzola with pine nuts and Russ's was chicken and mushroom.

"How did the Habitat thing go today?" Russ's staff Christmas party was to spend a half day at a Habitat for Humanity build and then go out to lunch.

"It was great, really great. Everyone was really impressed by the whole organization."

In my head I thought, "Maybe the Y could take notes here," but I kept that bit to myself.

"Had any of your staff done a build before?"

"Tom, I think. He was pretty funny. Dan might have done it before too. I think everyone was happy to be doing it though."

As we continued to talk about how the day went, I noticed how relaxed and excited Russ sounded. That's when it occurred to me.

"I feel a blog post coming on."

Raised eyebrows.

"I think the secret to not freaking out in scary economic times is to give yourself away. Give away your time, energy and stuff. It's counter intuitive I know. When you think you might not have anything soon, you want to horde what you do have. My theory is that that makes you more freaked out. If you give away freely, I think you feel more calm."

I bet I'm not the firt person to think of that. I bet great thinkers and teachers before me thought of it. But when you think of it yourself, it still feels like a revelation!

I didn't have a lot of time to dwell on it.

"Is my pizza done yet? Let me look in the oven!" was the next bend in the conversational road.