My Favorite Things: The 2010 Recap

This year felt like one long episode of Oprah's Favorite Things.  Except it was MY favorite things that I was giving away and MY favorite people and causes that I was giving to.  Not quite as flashy as Oprah's but the intention behind the giving was the same.  LOVE.    

And in the process, I learned so much about myself and the way the Universe works.  Do good and good comes back to you.  It's the Law isn't it?  So simple.  What you put out comes back to you.  Well, if I needed evidence of that, this year it was shown to me over and over again.  Every day.  Not that anyone should give to get.  It's just inherent in the nature of giving. 

My favorite of all things to give is time.  Donating time/volunteering changed my life and gave me more than I could imagine or give back.  Not only did I meet some of my greatest new friends volunteering but some of my favorite days and moments of my year life happened on those days.  My life will never be the same after this year.  

I have new like-minded friends, causes I care passionately about, new favorite places, a changed perspective on the nature of the world and a new direction in life.  I now know more about myself and what I want to do with the rest of my days.  I want to make giving my full-time job.  Up until now, I have done everything I ever wanted to do since I was a little girl.  I crafted the life of my dreams.  But somehow, after this year, it no longer feels like mine.  The causes I have dedicated myself to, and giving every day, are now what I want to do.  So I plan on creating a new life based on giving.  I am going to take a leap of faith, follow my heart and create the new life of my dreams.  (More on that to come!)

Now for the re-cap of my favorite moments of this year:

1.  Operation Beautiful - I think self-esteem is the key to changing the world.  You have to fearlessly be yourself and love yourself for it.  Only then can you really begin to give to the world.  Change yourself to change the world.  The world will become as you are.

2.  My mom's first tattoo - Still as beautiful as the day she got it!

3.  Jewelry - I continue to make jewelry for all my loved ones and that jewelry continues to bring them good luck.  It's crazy the things that have happened to them shortly after receiving their piece.  Found the love of their lives, were gifted thousands of dollars, found a new path in life...  All true stories.

4.  Volunteer days with Animal Acres & Sea Shepherd - Beautiful days surrounded by compassionate hearts.  World Fest, Compassionate Cooking Event, The Great Shark Affaire, 4th of July Pignic and all the non-event work days.  Some of the best days ever.

5.  India - My incredible adventure in India with VegNews Magazine and VegVoyages.  Even though I loved all the time we gave, our day at Animal Aid Udaipur was by far one of the greatest days giving love.  Animal Aid does incredible work for animals and the ones I met that day, I will never forget.  I absolutely promise to return again. 

6.  The Freedom Awards -  I had the incredible opportunity to volunteer with Free The Slaves for the 2010 Freedom Awards after-party, Freedom Rocks.  Their mission is to end slavery worldwide and the awards celebrate heroes of the anti-slavery movement.  It was an amazing night and I hope to continue working with Free The Slaves in the future.

7.  Slaughterhouse Memorial -  My hometown is factory farm central.  Feedlots surround the city and there is a major slaughterhouse just minutes away from my childhood home.  Over Christmas weekend my mom and I decided to set up a memorial for the lives that are so often forgotten.  I created 2 memorial posters with pictures and fresh flowers.  At midnight on 12/26, we headed out.  What we felt, I can't even describe.  Or what we saw...  It was an unforgettable experience that will stay with us forever.  But we were so proud of ourselves for dropping off our messages of love, dedicated to the beautiful souls who lose their lives every minute of every day.

I have many more favorite moments but I picked 7 because it is my favorite number/lucky number.  Can't wait to see what 2011 has store.  I feel like this year has inspired me to give even more next year.  That's right, the giving will continue.  Forever.  It has become part of my life.  So much that there is no need to plan or worry about what to give, it just happens.  Naturally.  Every day.  

Happy New Year!

♥∞,

~B

"The more one forgets himself by giving himself to a cause, or another person to love - the more he actualizes himself." --Viktor Frankl

 

Kindness is Contagious

So, this is new for me. Blogging. Weird. (Except for back in the day when Myspace was all the rage. I had stellar Myspace blogs...) But I feel like I have something of importance to give and share with the world all of a sudden. A shift in perspective.

I've come to understand in the past few years that giving and receiving are one. Especially when done from the heart and with conscious intention. In fact, it's an infinite loop of love, kindness, compassion and generosity. What you put out is indeed what you receive. That goes for everything I suppose. You put out negativity, you'll receive negativity. You put out positivity, you'll receive positivity. But it has never been more clear than recently.

I've always been a giver. I love to give gifts. I pride myself in that. Surprise, random, sweet, silly, spontaneous little gift giver I am. Then last month (Dec '09) I was inspired by The Ellen Show (of course) and her 12 Days of Giveaways. Since giving is nothing new to me I thought, I can do that too, heck I'll double it. Then I thought, if I'm doing 24 days I might as well do all 31 days of December. So that is what it became: The 31 Days of Giving.

And it was one of the most life changing experiences of my life. That's a big statement, but it was. It was also one of the most fun. I gave food to food drives, clothes to clothes drives, toys to toy drives, coats to coat drives... December is FULL of some type of "drive". I also continued in my spontaneous gift giving to friends, family and colleagues. I'm a (HS dance) teacher so I made my classes more like being in the audience for the Ellen show, "Everyone is getting a copy of _________". The kids loved it obviously. Everyone loves free stuff.

I also made some donations to organizations that I support such as, The Humane Society, Greenpeace, The Invisible Children and PETA. Not giant donations. (Like I said, I'm a teacher.) But enough to know my money is making a difference. I also donated time, which I think is more important than giving money. I spent the day at Animal Acres, a sanctuary for animals rescued from the factory farming industry. I met some of the most beautiful individuals that day, both human and animal. Kindred spirits. And even though I spent the next 2 days being sore from all the sweeping, shoveling and cleaning, it was absolutely worth it!

That's the biggest lesson in all of this, it feels good to give. It makes me happy to make others happy. I feel it's almost selfish in a way. There's instant gratification when you see the joy on someone's face and the gratitude they feel. I share in that with them. I also tried to get my loved ones in on it, so they could feel what I was feeling. I took my brother with me to go drop off a box of blankets and toys to the local animal shelter. In turn they let us come in and play with the kitties up for adoption. The energy of the place completely changed and my brother and I left the place buzzing with joy.

I knew by day 9 that this is how I wanted to spend everyday of 2010 (and beyond). So the 365 Days of Giving was born. I'll do blogs to re-cap the "Week in Giving", but I will say that I feel like I'm onto something really good and really big. I can't quite describe it. I'm different. The way I see the world and my reality are different.

I want everyone to feel this amazingness with me. Even if you only do one small generous act a week, you will see that it has a ripple effect. Same is if you drop a small stone in a pond. The love you put out, continues in all directions from you. And you too will see that kindness is contagious.

I will leave you with some of my favorite quotes about compassion, generosity and kindness.

Enjoy! 

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. -- Lao Tzu

It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do a little. -- Sydney Smith 

Generosity is living in the trust that you are always provided for and can provide for others. -- Jon Marro (Owner of Blend Apparel)

I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver. -- Maya Angelou

Compassion is a muscle that grows stronger with use and the act of choosing kindness over cruelty will change us. -- Jonathan Safran Foer (Author of "Eating Animals")

What can you give away today? -- Cafe Gratitude

♥∞,

~B