I first saw the post below on Facebook and have since discovered it going around in the blogosphere (such a nice word!) as well. My gifting list on Facebook is complete but I thought it might be a nice way to get in touch with some of the people around the world who happenstance onto my little blog. And the idea of brightening up someone’s day unexpectedly, even when you don’t know that person, is wonderfully appealing to me! So here goes:
The first five people to comment on this post will receive a creative gift from me this calendar year! It will be unexpected and whenever the mood strikes me, so expect something fun and unique. The one condition is that if you comment, you must pay it forward and offer the same on your blog!
Don’t forget to leave me a link to your own blog so I can get to know you a little. It would be sad if you are a really cool, tough, motorcycle-riding guy who hates pink and I sent you a lovingly knitted woolly something in bright pink, would it not? Although you probably would not have ended up on my blog anyway, but you catch my drift. And of course I’ll need your address as well so drop me a line by e-mail to keep it private.
How many of you have actually seen the 2000 movie Pay It Forward with the sweet and talented Haley Joel Osmond as one of the leading characters? It made such a huge impression on me, that one little boy starting to change the world. I wonder if the director might have imagined that it would lead to this…
Whoever set off this particular domino effect, you could not have had a better idea to start the new year. It will continue to brighten people’s days throughout 2013 and nothing could be more in the spirit of the movie’s message. I wish you a wonderful, beautiful, fulfilling and creative year!
Anyone else having trouble getting their desired layout published, by the way? I’m pretty sure I’m doing it right but I can’t get WordPress to turn off the darned italics!
Update: After a bit of Googling and Facebooking I came to realise that some people may refrain from joining this lovely little ‘movement’ because they worry about how time-consuming it will be or perhaps their lack of creativity. I’d like to emphasise that this is not about displaying unprecedented feats of crafting skill or spending days toiling on gifts for people you may not even know. It might be as simple as a hand-made post card, a tin of cookies presented creatively, a print of one of your photographs, a famous or much loved poem handwritten on pretty paper, or (for the
way too cool to be craftingtough, motorcycle-riding guys among you) a whistle carved from wood or a good-looking metal object (a ring, a nut, a bolt – be creative!) threaded on a piece of leather to make a bracelet or necklace.It can be anything, really, if you remember that crafting is about making something special out of ordinary, everyday objects. It may take up as little as 15 minutes of your time – and spending 75 minutes on this in an entire year sounds quite reasonable, doesn’t it? Particularly if you remember that there are 525,600 minutes in a year. I checked. This project is all about giving a little of your time to make somebody else’s day a little brighter. So just put aside your fears and worries and boldly go where you may never have gone before. (Yes, I confess… in addition to being a knitter, mom and translator, I am also a science fiction-loving geek).
A gilded yarn 
Hi, Iris,
You are, in fact, my 5th recipient for the Creative Pay-It-Forward project. Please email me your complete name and address. I look forward to sending you a gift sometime during 2103. I will take some time to peruse your blog and get to know you a bit. I f you care to send me any notes about yourself and life that would help to make your gift personal, feel free to do so. Thanks so much…
Hi Zurn,
And you are the first on my list! Hopefully it will fill up a little more as time goes by. I’ll e-mail you this week, it has been a bit hectic. Thanks 🙂
I’m curious about the “translator” you. Can you tell me about her?
Funny that you should ask, Zurn. I’ve never really thought of who I am as a translator, actually. Partly because I never really picked it as a job; due to circumstances it was convenient at the time and because it allowed me to stay at home with my children while still making money, I kept at it. I often dislike the alone-ness of it because there is no real daily interaction with others. On the other hand, it has given me a freedom I would otherwise never have had. And clients tell me I am extraordinarily good at it. I have always loved words and there is a challenge in reproducing a person or company’s spirit and intentions in another language. I always hear the words and inflection in my head while I’m typing (as if I were talking) so I like writing a sentence just so. It is the same when I am writing, actually. I never realised that. So perhaps it is time for me to embrace the translator part of me, as well…