Monday, January 3, 2011

good deeds ~ recap & new beginnings!

happy new year everyone!!!  

i hope you all had yet another lovely holiday weekend.  we sure did, but more on that later.  
being that it's the beginning of the new year and the beginning of the first week in the new year {has this gotten old yet?}, i thought it best to start out focusing on ways to make the world a better place.  

over the past few months i highlighted organizations and ideas on how to help your fellow person, animal, & earth.  
there was...
+ help a village buy the animals they need to survive and thrive through heifer international.
+ pick an idea each month from the list of little things you can do to make your own community a better place. 
+ adopt, foster, or volunteer at an animal rescue shelter to help our four-legged friends!
+ commit to being compassionate towards others by signing the charter at charter for compassion
+ shop at raven + lily for cute goods and help impoverished women make a decent living.
+ help a girl receive what she needs to avoid a life a poverty, abuse, & illness through the girl effect.
+ sign up with some letter writing organizations sending notes to sick children and their families.
+ and of course, don't forget to do some good deeds for yourself! you deserve it, plus how are you going to make the world a better place if you're not taking time to fill your well first?

personally, it has been an amazing experience to write these posts and help shift my own focus towards ways i can help others.  i know just how easy it is to get caught up in a busy life and forget that, as an educated, healthy person in the western world, i have the perfect opportunity to make the world a better place.  before, i thought that having no money meant i wouldn't be able to do much good.  it sure seemed  that a lot of charities and organizations needed a whole lot of money and nothing else.  but this fall i began to understand that this way of thinking was just plain ridiculous ~ there are PLENTY of ways to do some good without spending a dime!  so i have learned and grown a lot through these posts, and i sincerely hope they sparked some inspiration in you too!


originally, these posts were going to be a special holiday series.  but since i loved researching them and you seemed to love reading them, i have decided to continue with this series throughout the new year.  i have some new dreams for my good deeds posts, however.  i know a lot of you have some great ideas of your own that i would love to hear about, and if there's one especially close to your heart that you would like me to post, please let me know!  i would also love to hear about any experiences you have had lately with your good deeds.
did you do any of the good deeds which i posted?  
did you do any different ones?  
were you on your own, with your family, or with an organization?   
what did you think of the experience?

i am also a firm believer in celebrating our successes.  i know that taking valuable time, energy, and maybe money out of your own life takes a lot of strength.  it's tough to set aside work, school, etc. and choose to do something good for someone else.  let's face it, in the end you'll feel like a million bucks, santa claus, and an angel all rolled into one! but in the beginning of doing something good it can feel awkward, scary, and uncomfortable.  not to mention, if you have a lot going on in your life, taking time away from your schedule can make things more complicated for you.  

SO... with all this in mind, i thought these posts could also be an amazing place to celebrate some of YOU for your hard work and good deeds.  for anyone who is interested, i would to love share good deeds that you have done for others, the planet, or even for yourself.  i want to celebrate with you on a job well done, and hopefully inspire more people out there to do the same.  if you would like to be featured, or want to feature an amazing person in your life who is doing some good {but maybe doesn't have a blog}, please email me.  i would love to include any photos you might have, a brief description of what you did, a link to the organization {if applicable}, and of course a link to your own blog.  i also might want to ask you a few questions about your experience, if you wouldn't mind.    

so with the new year here, i hope we can all move forward with warm hearts and renewed energy to make this world a little brighter in 2011!

11 comments:

  1. Kim, you're just all kinds of brilliant. I definitely have some ideas I could send your way, and I can't wait to start working on doing more myself. Oddly, I'm really not one to toot my own horn -- I try to do things (even if they're just really little things) because it feels good to help others. Okay, my mind is bursting with ideas. I'll email soon.

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  2. I couldn't agree more. This has been a great series. Like, Brandi I find it hard to toot my own horn. I really enjoy learning about individual organizations, though.

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  3. Oh Kim, you are so amazing. I just love everything you're doing and every time I stop by your blog I just end up feeling happy. So thank you =-)

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  4. Fabulous idea! I know so many people who need to be featured. They are so humble yet do so much. You are so inspiring/inspired!

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  5. there are all sorts of ways to make the world better and to help out, and many don't cost money.

    this thanksgiving i volunteered my time at a homeless thingie. it was kind of rad. and it was nice to hang out with all sorts of people that just wanted to be nice and help those out that are in need. yay!

    happy new year to ya! :)

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  6. This is such a lovely blog. It's really good to learn about the different people and organisations that are making a difference. And also what we can do to help :) You are a very inspiring person miss!

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  7. I love this post Kim! Especially because it gets the focus onto helping others...I pay for a girl in Uganda to go to school/basic living expenses/etc. but you don't need to feature that. I'm not looking for a spotlight at all, it's just something I've done for a few years that reminds me the world is not all about me!! (and girl do i need reminding sometimes. ugh!)

    xo,
    Carrie

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  8. It's great to continue this series! It's so important for people to see a difference they can make in the world. I still need to get involved in the letter-writing organization you told us about. That sounds right up my alley (I'm too much a poor college student to donate anything but time to places).

    Most of the things I do with Circle K are smaller deals such as caroling, writing letters to children, or working at the SPCA (FAVORITE). Sometimes we do events with March of Dimes (premature babies), autism walks, alzheimer walks, or Relay for Life (a cancer organization). People can donate time to collect money or donate themselves. There are walks in every area that people can get involved in.

    Or close to home they could spend time at nursing homes, a local children's museum, a soup kitchen, or with rescue animals (you can foster seeing eye dogs usually). I know that was a big spiel but they're just some ideas that could be used in an everyday sort of way.

    We haven't done any wedding planning yet beyond (I think) deciding upon a date - in July of 2012, after I graduate with my masters. We did pick up a few magazines and our first wedding book the other day though. My aunt and his mom are eager to help plan though and I'm excited about it. :) Thanks for asking!

    As always, thanks for the inspiring post!

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  9. love that you are reminding everyone about giving back... so many people out there seem to forget about it!

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  10. oh these ideas are amazing! i need to do less eating out and more helping :-P

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  11. Thank you for keeping up this series! It's amazing, and it's one of my resolutions to give back to my community!

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