True Generosity

True acts of generosity have a quality of expansiveness more so than contraction, and come from a place of wholeheartedness

Emalani is a multimedia publication service by Emma Emalani Bennett, an author, teacher, and transpersonal empowerment coach intended to guide you towards empowerment by integrating your whole self, which gives you unrestricted access to your personal power. You'll receive guidance on self-love, leadership, success, and wealth, drawing from various disciplines such as psychobiology, transpersonal psychology, and spirituality.

Hello Visionary, yes that’s you,

If you’re a creative, a founder, a dreamer, or someone with a mission—chances are, you’re constantly giving. You give your ideas, your energy, your time, your presence.
But somewhere along the way, giving started to feel like depletion. Not devotion.
Like a to-do list, not a calling. Like duty, not integrity.

Here’s why this matters:

1. Burnout masquerades as generosity.
   When your worth is tied to how much you give, you unconsciously trade wholeness for approval.

2. Transactional connection limits your impact.
   The people you're trying to serve can feel when the energy is transactional—even if the intention is pure.

3. Scarcity creates false urgency.
   Internalized capitalism whispers, "You must give more to be enough." But true generosity never comes from scarcity—it flows from enough.

Real generosity isn't about martyrdom, performance, or people-pleasing.
It's not a PR strategy for being seen as “good.”
It's presence. It’s integrity. It’s the natural overflow of wholeness.

True generosity asks:

Are you giving from fullness, or from fear?
Is this generosity, or is it obligation in disguise?
Are you offering connection, or chasing validation?

You cannot create from depletion and expect expansion.

When we think of generosity, we often think of giving, contribution, charity, service—things we should do to appear magnanimous. Even our ideas of empathy can extend to walking in another person’s shoes and suffering with them as an act of emotional generosity. Hence, we have the phenomenon of compassion fatigue that comes about when this becomes depleting. There’s a sense of the obligatory about it and it feels more like depletion and scarcity than true generosity. There’s the Salvation Army bucket outside the grocery store around the holidays, the melodramatic animal shelter commercial with Sarah McLachlan’s voice tugging the threads unraveling our guilt, the endless to-do list of things we need to do for others out of duty.

Is this really generosity? Or are we unconsciously projecting internalized capitalism, mistaking it for generosity? Have we been conditioned to believe that giving is just another transactional process of internalized capitalism?

Our culture has turned generosity into an economic model that is absorbed psychologically—give so you can feel like a good person, give so you can prove that you care, give so you don’t come across as a selfish asshole. If you pay close attention, these are bids for approval, security, and control. In a Vox Interview, venture capitalist and investor Chamath Palihapitiya called this out as the transactionalization and bastardization of connection. He reflected on his own success, saying:

“I had been exploring why, after the accumulation of all of these things—more companies invested in, more funds raised, more notoriety, more television appearances, more this, more that, more everything—why am I not more happy? In fact, I’m less happy. And in fact, I think that I’ve actually really bastardized some core relationships in my life where I’ve created hyper-transactional relationships in many areas of my life.”

Photo by Erika Andrade

Many of us have done the same, internalizing the idea that giving is just another form of currency. True generosity isn’t transaction—it’s presence. Generosity is sharing from the eternal wellspring of love. Resting is an act of generosity. Being present is an act of generosity. Empathy, compassion, forgiveness, connection, and patience can be generous and so can saying no or walking away. These such noble acts of generosity have a quality of expansiveness more so than contraction and they require a steadfast commitment to integrity. That is the key difference.

By integrity, I mean “the state of being whole and undivided”:

I often let the universe answer my questions, sending me signs in unexpected places. Once, I asked how to overcome scarcity. Later that day, I walked to the library and saw they were having a book sale. On a whim, I picked up Rising Strong by Brené Brown and flipped it open. There, scribbled on the very front page, were these words:

“Page 274 The opposite of scarcity = wholeheartedness.”

A red page sticker had been generously left in the book, as though the Universe had intended and orchestrated for me to see it.

Wholeheartedness—not necessarily abundance—is the true opposite of scarcity. And here, we have the answer as to how to know when generosity is true. As Brené Brown connects wholeheartedness with vulnerability and worthiness: “the opposite of scarcity is enough, or what I call wholeheartedness.” True generosity can only come from enough. Abundance is overflow from enough. Prosperity proliferates from enough. Without wholeheartedness, there is no true generosity, only an imitation.

If you’re here to create meaningful things—
If your work is your soul’s work—
You cannot afford to mistake martyrdom for meaning.

Relearning generosity as presence, as rest, as saying no, as being whole, is the next evolution of your leadership.

This is where the healing starts.
This is how your impact becomes sustainable.
This is how you reclaim your creative fire without burning out.

💎 upgrade your subscription to yearly mastermind calls

Because integrity is not a luxury.
It's your FOUNDATION.

© ❤️ Emma Emalani Bennett | Your Creative Performance Trainer
Author of Written into Reality: The Art of Co-creating Your Dreams to Life, Founder, Chief Creative Officer & Director of Emalani Publishing
Dreamers, Creatives, Visionaries, I SEE YOU 🫶🏻
To work directly with me, upgrade your subscription to yearly mastermind calls.

“Bennett is a sensitive, thoughtful, and confident writer, with a clear desire to help others change their lives, or at least their mindset. Unpacking the apparent conflict between 'sacred' and 'logical,' and combining spiritual ideas with science and reason. Bennett’s powerful lived experience and her stunning story of personal growth provide her with authenticity and authority as an expert in overcoming hardship. Manifestation, astrology, re-architecting your reality, and changing your energetic course in life are just a few of the complex subjects Emma Bennett explores, and by and large she does a good job of weaving seemingly disparate ideas together into a cohesive whole.”
— John S., Senior Editor

A Note from Emma

Mahalo nui loa, thank you for being a part of this global community of compassionate, brilliant, heart-centered human beings. You are a gift of Source, and the light you ripple from just being who you are into this world matters deeply.

People often ask how I can still be joyful, peaceful, and positive after everything I’ve experienced — an ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience) score of 8/10, a coma, trauma, neurological complications, life experiences that stretched a dark night of the soul into multiple decades. Shamanic traditions of the Americas consider the lower world to be the place you can dive into the depths of to recover your power. I made the choice to do so and you can too.

My work as a soul alchemist and transformation catalyst helps visionary humans like you transform struggle into power, doubt into genius, and blocks into breakthroughs.

I work across four levels of reality — objective, subjective, symbolic, and holistic — to create transformation that lasts. This isn’t surface-level mindset woowoo new age dryer lint fluff. This is real, deep rewiring of your energy, intention, identity, and capacity to hold life, love, wealth, power and purpose. And to live and manifest from wholeness.

To Work with Me…

“Emma weaves magic with her words, her energy and her wisdom. Her encyclopedic knowledge resides at the intersection of brain science, personal development, marketing, spiritual teachings and real life experience from the school of hard knocks. Her intuition-led coaching style gently guides and invites self reflection, empowering each individual to discover their own path and their own unique way of sharing their gifts...
I call it ‘Soul alignment on steroids’.”
— Tammy

• Tarot and Astrology Guidance: Uncover hidden insights and explore your life's journey through the ancient wisdom of tarot and astrology.

• Positive Neuroplasticity Practices: Rewire your brain for positivity and abundance, cultivating a mindset that acts as a honing missile locked onto opportunities to succeed, prosper, and thrive.

• A Potent Blend of Positive, Humanistic, Depth, & Transpersonal Psychology: Understand and transform your relationship with power, creating a foundation for authentic empowerment.

• Psychobiologically-Informed Coaching: Harness the power of mind-body connections to optimize your overall empowerment, wellbeing, and prosperity.

I’m currently at full capacity for 1:1 sessions and discovery calls. If you’re feeling deeply called to work together, I invite you to join the waitlist by completing this questionnaire. This will help me understand your current journey, how I can best support you, and whether we are a good match to work together so that our time together will be aligned, clear, and impactful from the very beginning.

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Thank you for being here. You are part of a much bigger evolutionary movement of humanity’s healing and conscious elevation.

With Love and Gratitude,
Emalani

“The best thing about working with Emma is how comfortable she makes you feel. As well as the vast amount of knowledge she has that is so helpful in pointing you in the right direction.”
— Joy

About Emma

Just as she graduated from university, Emma Bennett slipped on a spill in the stairwell and her life was forever altered in unimaginable ways. Since then, Emma has leveraged conscious adaptation to heal and create change through neuroplasticity, which changed her mind about what it means to live creatively. Now, Emma writes, speaks, and teaches on how to leverage the hidden powers of their remarkable brains, nervous systems, bodies, and spirits.

Emma brings together the realms of tarot, astrology, positive neuroplasticity, and transpersonal (beyond self, higher consciousness) development. Her approach is psychobiologically-informed, offering a holistic perspective on personal development that goes beyond traditional measures.

With her experience working with multinational NGOs, nonprofits, and Fortune 500 companies, including the UNDP, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Hulu, NBCUniversal, and Disney, Emma possesses a wealth of knowledge that she integrates into her coaching services. To date, she has connected with people from over 94 different countries.

• Personality: Super Smoosh Cancerian Stellium 🦀♋️, INFP Idealist, Type 4 Dreamer, 2/4 Human Design Projector Right Angle Cross of the Unexpected

• Which island are you from? Oahu

• Mochiko chicken or lau lau? That’s not right. Let’s have it all. Both!

• Movie That Makes Me Cry: Up 🎈

• Favorite Show: Fringe!! Walter forever!!!

• Favorite Color: Blue

• Currently Listening To: Letters to a Young Poet by Maria Rainer Rilke

• Books I’ve Finished Recently: The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo, The Inivisible Life of Addie LaRue by Victoria Schwab, Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, How God Changes Your Brain by Andrew B. Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman

“Emma’s sparkling prose achieves a degree of communication with the reader in a manner few other writers of this genre can claim. Her spirit soars like the ideas she purports. Learning of her own journey to enlightenment adds to the credibility of her recommendations for truly seeking awareness. As she shares, ‘The energy I put into this book will pass on to you and the message I have to offer will sink into your subconscious, which will awaken a new perspective and awareness throughout your life. Trust your soul to sort it all out and go through life heartfirst instead of headfirst. This will provide you with the most amazing experiences of a lifetime. Your heart knows the way. Your head doesn’t have a clue.’” — Grady, reivewer of Written Into Reality: The Art of Co-Creating Your Dreams to Life

Emma's Education

• B.A. Study of problems of Technological, Cultural, Political, Economic, and Environmental Globalization requiring innovative approaches to understanding of power, exchange, creativity, and social life

• A.A. Behavioral sciences studies encompassing general, cognitive, neurological, physiological, developmental, intercultural, abnormal, personality, and social psychology

“I felt inspired and uplifted. The best thing was Emma’s enthusiasm, acceptance, and encouragement! I would recommend Emma for sure. No doubt she will be behind you a thousand percent.” — Elizabeth

“I don't know how you're giving this much energy... I feel so seen!” — Sheri

“That was amazing. It all resonated deeply, was encouraging, and very helpful… I have chills. This was so relevant. Thank you so much. :)” — Diana

“I've found clarity in so many areas of my life. Especially my business and finding a way I can share my message in a way I can fully stand behind. It's brought me to tears and has let my heart feel safe and open again.” — Dana

I believe in the power of giving back. That's why 10% of profits will be donated to causes we deeply care about, including organizations supporting survivors of intimate partner violence, brain injury support, and community empowerment, including:

• FreeFrom, a not-for-profit organization created to help survivors of domestic violence achieve financial security, special thanks to CEO Sonya Passi and her wife Chani Nicholas, Director of External Relations Em Jackson, their wonderful friend Yolo Akili Robinson, director and founder of BEAM (Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective) for giving me a much-needed boost in the beginnings of getting my business off the ground.

• Ke Kukui Foundation, non-for-profit supporting the Hawaiian and Polynesian arts and culture in Oregon and Washington, providing kokua, support, to encourage and empower the people of our communities so that we can laulima, come together to make it all easier for each other. Mahalo for demonstrating our culture, ho’ike, to show the world who we are and make our presence known with aloha, with love and grace.

• The Aloha Project, Huna International, not-for-profit organization committed to joining people of the world together in a spirit of Aloha to bring about physical, emotional, mental, environmental, social, and spiritual harmony based on the wisdom found in Hawaiian philosophy and culture, mahalo nui loa to Serge, Graeme, Mai-Britt, Susan, all the members who are now my hanai ohana.

• Brain Injury Connections Northwest, not-for-profit organization that has made a tremendous difference in my life with their support groups, art therapy, and the amazingly inclusive, compassionate support they’ve created for survivors of brain injury — with special heartfelt thanks to Vice President Fern Wilgus.

• Brain Injury Alliance of Washington, Brain Injury Alliance of Oregon, not-for-profit organizations that connect survivors and loved ones of those who have had brain injuries to resources, special thanks to Director of Operations Justin Taft and Resource Manager Carla-Jo Whitson.