One of the truly magical aspects of t’internets is the connections. I love that through a facebook link back to my blog a friend from primary school emailed me to say ‘I just wanted to tell you that your blogs are a pleasure to read – they have reduced me to tears, brought me to laughter, inspired me, brought me to a place of deep thinking… which is probably the best ever compliment anyone could ever give me. I haven’t seen Bronwyn for the best part of 30 years, and yet there is a shared part of our histories that forever join us to the little village of Waikouaiti where we both grew up. And then this morning I read Marianne’s tweet which sent me to Chookalonk’s blog, who’s latest post gave me goosebumps.

The last few weeks have left me introspective and thinky. A bit quieter than usual. Curled up from the world. And all I needed was a trigger to move forward. And so I am embarking on a personal mission: to complete all 24 of Chookalonk’s simple ways to show love. It is likely to take a few days to build up to #10, so I am giving myself a week to:

1. Buy coffee for the guy standing behind you at the coffee shop.
2. Open the door for someone before entering yourself. It doesn’t matter if you’re a girl and he’s a boy, or you’re a boy and she’s a girl, or you’re both boys, or you’re both girls. You can do it.
3. Send a quick email to someone you haven’t heard from in a while. It can just say, “Hey, I was thinking about you. I hope you’re well.” Trust me, it will make her day.
4. Send a small, handwritten note – via regular mail! – to someone far away. It can just say, “Hey, I was thinking about you. I hope you’re well.” Trust me, it will make his day.
5. Give someone flowers, just because. They don’t have to be expensive. The recipient really isn’t going to care that it wasn’t expensive. I promise.
6. Invite someone to your home. Have something baking in the oven for them when they arrive.
7. Light a candle and think of someone who is going through a rough time. Silently offer them good thoughts/prayers.
8. Pick a charity. Give something.
9. Buy a magazine subscription for a friend out of the blue.
10. Give blood.
11. Prepare someones tea. In my opinion, it’s a wonderful act of love to not just put the hot water and a teabag in front of a friend, but actually prepare and steep the tea for them.
12. Tell a child – or someone who is struggling with self-esteem – how great you think they are. And mean it.
13. The next person who serves you a meal at a restaurant, or helps you in a store, or sells you your morning newspaper, look him in the eyes, smile, and say “thank you” with as much sincerity as you can muster.
14. Give someone a heartfelt hug. Just because.
15. Start a hopeful revolution: leave a hope note somewhere. Extra points if you leave it on the windshield of a stranger’s car.
16. Offer to cook a meal for someone.
17. Offer to give someone a break – babysit, hire a maid service for them, or even straighten her house yourself.
18. Clean out your closet. Give the gently-used clothing you no longer want to a shelter.
19. Take a photograph of something beautiful. Send it to someone, with the note: “This reminded me of you.”
20. Give someone something of yours – a book, perhaps, or a small trinket – with no expectation of return.
21. Blow out a candle. Make a wish on someone else’s behalf as you do it.
22. Make a short list of the things you love about someone you love. Leave the list where they can find it.
23. Make a date to have coffee or a glass of wine with an old friend.
24. Say “I love you.” Mean it.

Please feel free to join me! I am interested in how this process helps to me let go of some of the angst. I will definitely report back next week.

‘There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life – happiness, freedom, and peace of mind – are always attained by giving them to someone else’ ~ Peyton March

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