Interview with the internet

I hear you asking... "OK Lori.   We underestimated you.  Again!  You obviously aren't going to abort this effort as quickly as you have abandoned so many other obsessions and bright ideas you've had.  So, tell us then.  What exactly is this 29 Gifts project all about, anyway?" 

And I will answer you with, "HEY!  Be nice!  We are all 'works in progress', after all."  The 29 Gifts project was started by a woman named Cami Walker.  Cami was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and, in her search for understanding and healing, Cami consulted with a South African medicine woman, who told her that she needed to give something away each day for 29 days.  Following that advice, Cami found that many things in her life changed dramatically.   She blogged about her experiences, wrote a book about her experiences, and, eventually, built a website around the idea.   You can visit that website to read a lot more about the project here:

http://www.29gifts.org/

Or, you can read a very little bit about the project here:  

GIVE A LITTLE EACH DAY. MAKE A BIG IMPACT.


Give one thing away each day for 29 days. Share your stories about how it impacts your life to focus on giving. Join the 29-Day Giving Challenge today. Why? Because to see our world change, we have to do something to change our world. Plus, the best way to attract abundance into your life is to be in a perpetual state of giving and gratitude. Be an important part of the global giving movement that inspires more generosity on our planet.


HOW IT WORKS:


Sign up and then give away 29 gifts in 29 days. Your 29 Gifts can be anything given to anyone... money, food, old sweaters, smiles, your time, kind words or thoughts. You can start your own personal 29-Day Giving Challenge at any time—there’s no official begin or end date. To complete the challenge, submit a story, post a piece of your original artwork, create a short film or write a song. Tell us about your favorite gives and the impact it made on your life to focus on giving.

Oh, and speaking of my obsessions, make sure to scroll to the bottom of this screen and see the owl picture of the day, OK??  How perfect is it that blogger had this gadget for me to add to my blog?? 

And now I hear you asking: "OK, the 29 gift thing sounds kind of funky and all new-agey, but cool.  What's the deal with 29 days?  Why not 30, or 31, or just say a month?"  RIGHT?  I'm so glad you asked that question.   Because I have no clue.  I asked the same question of the person who introduced me to the project.  He didn't know either.  Maybe the book, when I read it, will explain why 29 is such a big deal.  If you get there first, by all means, please enlighten me!   

I hear you asking, "Lori, tell me.  How did you hear about the 29 Gifts project?"  That's a great question.  Thank you for asking me!   My very good friend got involved, and started blogging about his experiences giving a gift each day for 29 days.  This particular friend is someone who already has so much generosity and love in his heart, that I was curious about any initiative that could move him to do even more for others than he already does.   Turns out, this one was particularly meaningful to him, because there are two very special people in his own life who, like Cami Walker, have multiple sclerosis.  Over the years, this friend has become very involved as a volunteer, then board member, then Chairman of the Board of the local chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  It is my guess that he spends at least as much time volunteering for that organization as he does doing anything else (and, with a career, a family, and a fixation on Notre Dame sports, he has lots to keep him busy).  I began following his blog.  One day I went to his blog to see what he'd been giving away lately, and read that one of his 29 gifts is a copy of Cami Walker's book, which he gave to me.  Or at least, I am told, "it's in the mail."  I was very moved and, as I often am by him anyway, very inspired.  So, I decided not to wait for the book, and to just get going. 

So today, Day 5 of my (first) 29 days, I'm writing a check to support the MS Society, because the Society and its cause are very important to my friend, and so it matters a lot to me, too.   And, I want him to know that he has kept the momentum of the project going by spreading it to at least one other person, and that I hope to do the same. 

I hear you asking, "Lori!  How are you ever going to think of 29 gifts to give in a row, and how will you find time to follow through?" and I will be glad to answer that.  I DON'T KNOW!  But it's awfully nice to spend time every day looking around, and wondering how you can help make the world just a little bit brighter for someone else today.  

Now you are asking me, "uh, shouldn't you be getting back to work?"  

Oh... Yeah.  Totally.