Tuesday, 8 January 2013

Pay-It-Forward and Other Acts of Random Kindness

I'm on Facebook, but tend to visit from time to time, so it's unusual for me to pick things up quickly.  However, I was intrigued when I saw a post from one of my friends about a 2013 Creative Pay-It-Forward, designed to get the creative juices flowing and spread a little happiness and creativity. via surprise gifts, sent at some point during the coming year.
The idea is that the first five people to comment on the status message describing the process receive a little creative something at some point during the coming year. To qualify, those five also have to post the status message and therefore commit to send something to anyone who comments and posts on the message, and so on.
I was surprised that I could be in the first five to comment on my friend's post, so joined in.  After a couple of days, I've still got 2 spare places against my post, but I've seen the message popping up everywhere so it could be a big thing!

Is there anyone out there who doesn't know about the concept of 'pay it forward'? I've been aware of it for probably 30+ years, well before the film, charitable foundation and so on.  It's simply the idea that instead of paying a favour back, you do something good for someone else.  I was a few pence short on a bus fare and someone gave me the small change I needed to get my ticket.  They didn't want paying back, but told me to do the same for someone else sometime, which I did, with the same request - pay it forward.  I loved the idea of little acts of random kindness happening, and the happiness they can bring.
You just don't know about other people's lives.  By holding the door open for the mother with a pushchair and letting that driver slide into the traffic queue in front of you, you may have made a big difference to their day.

What will I receive?  What will I send?  Will we all get to November and suddenly remember we have promises to keep? This could be interesting!

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