Thursday, November 1, 2012

29 Days of Giving

This November I am joining my friend and teacher Lara Land in a simple initiative called The 29-Day Gift Giving Challenge. It's just as it sounds, 29 days of conscious giving. I was inspired to participate in order to bring awareness to the simple act of giving, in whatever form it might be: giving change to a homeless person with a smile, giving up my seat on the Metro, or donating time or money to a charity.

Today, November 1st, I started off the month in a hotel near the airport in Paris. My parents left this morning after 10 days of vacation with me here and as they flew off I was filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude...we'd had such a perfect time. After straightening up the room, I decided to give a simple gift to kick off the month. I left a note (along with a tip) to the housekeeper of the hotel room telling her that I appreciate her work. Cleaning hotel rooms has to be a pretty thankless job, but I hope my misspelled French note and doodles made her smile.

I'm now thinking of how to best give my time and money to help in the hurricane relief back home in New York...I've been shocked to see the news reports and details from friends, and want to help in any way I can, even from the other side of the ocean!

It's not too late to join in giving! All it takes is the intention...