Appreciation Action

by Samantha on December 13, 2010

Next step

#reverb10 Day 13–Prompt: Action. When it comes to aspirations, its not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen. What’s your next step?

In May 2009, I started on a mission of appreciation in memory of my friend Max, who had passed away at age 21 the previous summer. When I got the news that he was gone, one of the first things that came to my mind was when I had last told him how much he meant to me, and how grateful I was to have him as a friend…and I couldn’t remember. I promised myself right then and there that I wouldn’t have a moment like that ever again. But, that wasn’t enough. I wanted to remind other people to be grateful for the people and things they are lucky enough to have in their lives, not to mention our lives themselves. Gratitude and appreciation are not just for special days and occasions, they should be a part of every single day.

So, I started the Appreciation Revolution. I recruited 31 of my fellow bloggers and friends to write about appreciation, and they came up with some incredibly inspiring posts. The series was very well received, and got a lot of RT and Facebook love. I even turned the first half into an e-book. But, here’s the thing…I want it to be more. This prompt is about taking action, and I want to make things happen, but I’m not sure what my next step should be. Part of me wants to get bumper stickers and t-shirts designed with reminders of appreciation, create a snazzy blog graphic for sidebars, start a separate Twitter account, and commit more to the Facebook page…or turn the whole darn thing into a book. I have the passion and the excitement, but I don’t know the best way to take action.

Here’s where I ask for your help. How do I recruit more people to become part of the Appreciation Revolution and spread my message of gratitude to the world?

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Tagged as: Appreciation, community, happiness, memories, Relationships, society

  • http://www.sukhrajbeasla.com Sukhraj Beasla

    Great idea! I’m also part of the reverb project and found your blog on Matt’s site. How about looking through other Facebook groups that have a similar message or do a search on Twitter? There are so many people out there that do various things and as the year is ending; I’m sure appreciation is a huge topic.

    You can look at various blogs by doing a search on Google. This is the season of giving. If you need anything else, please let me know. I would love to help you out!

  • http://www.enteradulthood.com Diana Antholis

    I love this project you are working on. I downloaded the e-book and read a few of the posts. I think that we all realize we need to appreciate more – but the problem lies in execution. Yes, you should email your friends, send a random text, hand write a thank you note, take a loved one out to lunch, organize a vacation…however you want to show your appreciation, but we let other things get in the way. What if there was an easy (super easy) way to get people to execute it? I’m thinking along the lines of someecards. Create a site dedicated to Appreciation Revolution that offers templates or already created cards (and more) that you can personalize that can be emailed, tweeted, facebooked, printed, etc. This way, it’s all in one place for people. They can go to that site and not only make their own appreciation card, but also see what others are writing/doing. They can also send invitations (think: appreciation lunch, etc) to people.
    I know this may take some serious coding and web design…but would be an interesting idea. Then once you have this landing page, you can create the FB page, Twitter account, Twitter hashtag, etc. to go along with it. And def write the book or create the e-book. It can be a compilation of all appreciations – and people can read it to feel wonderful or get ideas. (Sort of like Post Secret.) By seeing others’ acts of appreciation – I think it will inspire people to do their own.
    Let me know if you want to discuss more!

  • http://www.lifeschocolates.com sameve

    Hi Sukhraj! Those are great ideas, I’ll have to look for more like-minded people. I’m sure they’re out there! Thanks for commenting!

  • http://www.lifeschocolates.com sameve

    These are fantastic ideas, Diana! I’m so glad you love the project, and I really appreciate your input. People know that they should appreciate more, but they put it off, and many assume it takes more time and effort than it actually does. That’s one reason I wanted to get so many perspectives on appreciation, so people would know that there are many different ways to show you’re grateful.

    I’ve thought a bit about a separate site for the Appreciation Revolution. It sounds silly, but my initial inspiration was a day when I wished I could send a virtual hug to a friend who was going through some tough stuff. Unfortunately, websites cost money, as does good web design…but I could certainly hone my own HTML/CSS skills and see what I can put together.

    As for a book/ebook, I would love to put something tangible together. It probably requires more research and discussion with people in publishing/who have published books…and I may have to wait a little while until I can devote the time to it.

    Regardless, thank you so much for getting my mind rolling! Would love to chat sometime!

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