1/11/2014 Random Acts

January 11, 2014:

Beautiful spring-like day - amazing weather.  Went downtown with Will to get a fresh veggie juice and walked down to the lake to enjoy to sun and scenery.  Noticed a lot of trash by the lake and bus stop.  Spent about 20 minutes picking up trash in the area.  Once you start looking for trash - you see more and more!  We did as much as possible, and the area looked much better afterwards!  

Observations:  

It wasn't that hard to spend a few minutes doing this, and it looked so much better afterwards.

If everyone would spend just a few minutes picking up the trash around them, can you imagine the impact?!

I could tell that a few people here and there were noticing us and were curious about what we were doing....got a couple of quizzical looks.

We told a guy from the juice place what we were doing, I think he was thinking...ok, that's strange...

Overall, I felt really good about making the place a little better looking and only taking a few minutes to do so.

If this is going to be a habit, I do need to put some hand sanitizer in the car!

On the way home, we noticed a car that was parked on Bull Creek with their parking lights on.  I was talking to Will about how that person was going to have a dead battery and their day wouldn't be so great.  Then we were talking about how random acts should put you out of your comfort zone, and we decided to turn around and go up to the house and tell them about the lights.  I went up to the door and knocked - and I could tell the guy was hesitant to answer (the door had a full window in it).  He opened it and I told him that we were driving by and noticed that the car lights were on and we decided to stop and tell him.  

Observations:

He was visibly surprised as to why I was at his door - I'm sure he thought I wanted to sell him something or was wanting a petition signed, etc.

He was very thankful - the car belonged to a relative from out of town and he said he would tell them.

I think he was a little dumbfounded - he totally wasn't expecting someone to do what I did.  Maybe he'll share the story with others and someone else will be inspired to do something similar??  

Overall, I had a great experience doing these little things - they made me feel good, and they also got me out of my comfort zone a bit!  On to the next challenge!

Random Acts of Kindness Project

Hello world!   It's been a very long time since I posted here.  I have had a lot going on with a very serious family medical issue over the last couple of years (in addition to the normal stresses of everyday life), which has taken me away from my photography passion.  I've had a recent death in the family due to this ongoing medical issue, and I'm just starting to pick up the pieces.  

Although this is a photography blog page, I have decided to take a segue for a bit for a new project that I'm taking on to hopefully re-energize me and get my juices flowing.  

I've decided to devote time each week to performing random acts of kindness, and to document my journey here.  I figure if I make an effort to do at least 1-2 things for others that get me out of my comfort zone and make someone's day a little brighter, it will have three effects:  
1)  it will make someone's day a little brighter
2)  it will hopefully inspire others to pay it forward
3)  it will make me feel more creative and more motivated to get out and re-embrace photography and other things in my life

I know the whole idea of random acts is do them without looking for thanks or appreciation - to do them anonymously and to not seek praise.  But, after thinking my project through, I have decided to blog about my experiences - for the following reasons:
1)  to keep me accountable and working towards my goal
2)  to hopefully inspire others to reach out and do their own random acts
3)  to have a record of my journey and the interesting things that happen and people I meet along the way

Ground rules:
1)  random acts preferably involve strangers or people I'm in peripheral contact with (office building staff, etc.)
2)  random acts can also involve friends in addition to above
3)  random acts can involve the environment and my surroundings
4)  they don't have to be anything big - a simple compliment or saying something nice counts

Eventually, I hope to bring photos into the mix...to create a visual record of my journey.  

And, so my little journey begins...