Al and Tipper? Old News. Apparently, RAOK Is All The Rage.

The first time I was ever featured on WordPress’s Freshly Pressed page I had written a post, two months ago, on the fly, about the Tipper and Al divorce. Just a quick little observation about my impressions of marriage, divorce and media attention. Hits to my blog sky-rocketed. And a whopping 61 comments. 61! I had never generated so much buzz.

Then, I go away for the weekend. Not wanting to let my blog sit dormant, I re-printed a post from December. Just a sweet, little post about my commitment (or lack thereof) to Random Acts of Kindness. Freshly Pressed picked me up again as a featured blog post.

The attention has been astounding.

Simply.

Astounding.

And by astounding, I mean mind-boggling.

I’m standing here speechless. No, make that flummoxed.

The hits? Off the charts doesn’t even begin to describe. And the comments? 209 at last count. And that doesn’t even include all the spam or comments I deleted. (But will make for excellent post material at a later date. Stay tuned!)

A little post about how I tried to make someone’s day with an unexpected surprise. And how I felt guilty not doing it more. Or giving more in that particular moment.

People crawled out of the woodwork, threw down their lurker status and commented in droves. Or they commented on their own blogs and linked back here. Or they cut and paste my post and used it for their blog. (Which I’m still wrestling with the ethics of that, but again, a topic for another post.)

Or they criticized my actions. (But that, too, will be for another post.)

A simple, $3.18 gesture and I’m sitting high on the shoulders of my fellow bloggers and being paraded around Blog World.

A hero.

And isn’t that a little sad? I’m glad a story about paying it forward garnered more attention than a high-profile divorce, don’t get me wrong. But the shock and awe of how a small act of kindness can make such a difference surprises me.

And makes me pause and think and wonder…what if I were more deliberate in my good deeds? What if I challenged myself  to commit at least one RAOK a day, every day. How hard could it be?

So, forget about the challenge I posed to everyone about committing a random act of kindness over the weekend. I’m upping the ante. This isn’t going to be an “every once in a while thing” for me anymore. I’m going to challenge myself to commit a minimum of one RAOK each week. I will post about my successes and inevitable failures (because, contrary to popular opinion right now, I AM human) on a separate tab section of this blog. (No need to start another blog about this issue. There are plenty out there.)

You can join me. You can read and see what I do. You can be inspired all over again. Or, you can criticize what I deem a RAOK.

I don’t care.

I do know that whatever happens I will be a more fulfilled, positive force in this universe.

And a better example to my children.

And that’s all that matters.

Don’t forget! Write your post about blogging to help me celebrate my one year in Blog World. We’ll all meet back here in 3 days (August 13) to link, learn and maybe have a few laughs!

Cute Bear – Great Cause!

You know me, I’m all about great causes. Abby, from Mutterings from the Moor, is very crafty. Oh, how I envy her craftiness. And she’s come up with an adorable little bear to raffle off, raising money for cancer research. To give please click HERE.  And to visit Abby and find out more about her craft and her cause, click HERE.  Thanks everyone! And thanks to Abby for your contribution and efforts to such a great cause.

Let Them Know They Are Not Forgotten

Just a little more attention for the plight in Haiti. With the Olympics starting I suppose many of us have moved on. But help is still needed. And this video is an interesting re-make of the original We Are The World, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. It has some interesting footage of Haiti. And interesting footage of all of the egos  vocal artists involved. I like the rap element to this updated version, as well.

I just want the people of Haiti to know I haven’t forgotten them.

My Daughter And Locks Of Love

Before our team made it to State Championships my daughter and her friend made a bet. If they made it to finals my daughter would cut her hair “short.” My daughter has gorgeous, thick hair. That she loved wearing long.

They made it to finals. So, she made good on her promise.

This is before:

And this is after:

And because she cut off at least 10 inches she donated her hair to Locks of Love, an amazing organization that provides hairpieces for children suffering from any medical hair-loss. I love the sentence they have in their opening statement on the website: “The prostheses we provide help to restore their self-esteem and their confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers.” 

I’m so proud of my daughter that she, during her self-esteem and confidence building years, gave this precious gift to another child. I won’t lie. She was anxious, nervous and then took a few days to grow into her new look. But now she loves it and her self-esteem is a little pumped knowing what she helped to give someone who is struggling with their appearance.

They don’t just accept hair. They accept financial contributions, too! You can write a check (like I did.) Or make an online contribution. Or you can become a volunteer. Or you can support other companies that donate part of your purchase back to Locks of Love. There are many ways to help. Please take a few minutes to check out this amazing organization.

Jane’s Own Make A Difference Saturday

Today, from the comfort of your laptop (or if you’re like me – your dinosaur of a monster computer shoved off to the corner of the playroom) you can make a difference and I’m going to show you how! Pick your passion or pick ’em all! Here are some worthy causes and some only take seconds to participate in!

Dove Self Esteem Fund – My new favorite online charity. It covers a topic near and dear to my heart: encouraging the self esteem of young women. All you need to do is enter the UPC code of the favorite Dove product you have in your home. If you don’t have any, that’s ok. There is a tab for you to click where you pick a virtual product and they’ll enter the code for you. Dove will then donate $1 to your favorite charity (Girl Scouts, Boys & Girls Club of America or Girls Inc.) Easy, peasy. They’ve raised 3.6 million dollars so far but are trying to raise $5 million by January 1, 2010. Spread the word!

The Liz Logelin Foundation – $7 on the 7th – This one is going to cost you. But $7? I’ll skip 2 caramel macchiatos for this organization. And today is the 7th of November. How perfect is that? Their mission statement says it better than I can: “The Liz Logelin Foundation was established to assist families who find themselves in the heartbreaking, catastrophic situation of having lost a spouse, life-partner, and parent.  The Foundation’s goal is to financially assist these families as they deal with the loss of their loved ones, and struggle to move forward.” Liz’s husband, Matthew, started this after his otherwise healthy wife died of a pulmonary embolism hours after their daughter was born. She didn’t even get to meet her. Sad, yes, but out of that great sadness he has started an organization to help others, ‘for the love of Liz.’

The Breast Cancer Site – If this takes you more than 10 seconds I’ll find a way to give you back your time. I’ve had this button on my sidebar but here it is again in another form. Just click. Click again. You’ve just helped to donate a mammogram for a woman in need. It doesn’t get any easier than this!

Let’s Say Thanks – Sponsored by Xerox, this site allows you to send a note to our troops in just a few clicks. This took me all of 2 minutes to complete and it doesn’t cost a thing. The drawings for the cards were created by children all over the U.S. and they even have pre-fab sentiments you choose to have written inside – or – because I know you are all talented, prolific bloggers – you can create your own. Another easy, peasy task and it only costs 2 minutes of your time.

Ok. Choose one. Choose them all. But with a few clicks you can make a difference today! Have a great Saturday, everyone!

(P.S. Don’t forget about our get together Friday, November 13th. Start collecting the craziest search terms for your blog and we’ll all share them on Friday. You can write them in the comment section or blog about it – but don’t forget to link/comment here so we can all see them! See you Friday!)