Love Notes

     Leave encouraging, inspiring, or funny notes or quotes in a library book or other random places (without littering or refilling public property).  A simple note stapled to a bulletin board, taped to a column, or written in chalk on the sidewalk may influence in wonderful ways- you'll be like a secret agent who brings happiness to others. this website has fun examples that might give you some ideas: artofgettingstarted.com.

Live Your Values

     When we are on track, living close to the things we deem important- the things we value- we feel happier. This isn't flash happiness, it isn't the kind that lasts for a few minutes when we get a new toy, or enjoy a concert. This is the kind that lingers in the background of our lives. The kind that even in moments of sadness or frustration, never completely disappears, because if we are living in a values based-life we are also living with meaning and purpose.

    -Polly Campbell

Give Life

    Donate blood. One donation can help up to four people. If that's not inspiring enough, every three seconds, someone needs a blood transfusion due to various injuries, illness, or conditions. Donating is completely free and completely safe at bloodcenters.org. Go to the American Red Cross website (redcrossblood.org/make-donation) to find a location near you. And did you know you get cookies and juice after your donation?

Detox Your Diet

     Buy grass-fed, hormone-free, organic, and free-range meat, dairy, and eggs. Many grocery stores now have organic sections with produce that doesn't contain chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. These choices are better for you and the earth because no chemicals go into the soil or water. These items cost a little more, but for the sake of your health- and taste buds!- it's worth the price. Human-made pesticides and fertilizers require energy and resources to be manufactured and distributed; they also pollute the air, soil, and water, and have been shown to be carcinogenic (cancer-causing) in many cases. Vegetables that are grown organically require less fossil-fuel to be grown, pollute less, and are far less likely to cause any health issues. Prevention Magazine (prevention.com) offers lots of good information about food safety and what to avoid. Healthier is also happier!

The 411

     Your old cellphone is taking up space in your drawer when it could be helping a victim of domestic violence. Donate it to shelteralliance.net to keep your phone out of the landfill and know you are helping families in need.

Help Those Who Help Themselves

     Empower an entrepreneur with a loan through Kiva. You can give as little as $25 to small business owners in developing countries to help climate poverty. Thought the life of the loan, you will receive updates on the progress of the project and will be paid by the borrower with Kiva Credit- which you can use to fund another project. Through Kiva.org, I have bought some really lovely pillows, baskets, and bangle bracelets made in India by creative, hard-working women.

Throwing Shade: Trees Are Good For Us

     Encourage community management of forests. If there are common property lands nearby you that are degraded, work with local communities and environment NGO's to establish sustainable community forestry that benefits everyone. Get involved at treesforthefuture.org and meet your fellow tree huggers!

Mindfulness at Mealtime

    Eat like a Beatle! Sir Paul McCartney and many other celebrities support Meat Free Mondays. Check it out at meatlessmonday.com. The Belgian city of Ghent has instituted a Meat Free Thursday. Choose a day of the week to eat vegetarian or vegan and try to stick to this one-day diet each week. This global movement is saving water and preventing deforestation, not to mention its enormous health benefits!

Fur-Free and Fabulous

     Don't buy fur, ivory, or other products derived from endangered animals. By purchasing these things, you are personally contributing to the extinction of an entire species without realizing it. And we know you don't want to do that. Fake fur is lots more fun. If you want to know specifics about poaching or endangering species, go to worldwildlifefund.org.

Be Ripsniptious!

     Author Art Plotnik helped revive this world in his book Better than Great: A Plenitudinous Compendium of Wallopingly Fresh Superlatives. Simply put, "ripsniptious" (rip-snip-shuss) can be used to express something or someone that is wonderful and highly spirited. Today, you will be ripsniptious and notice all of the other ripsniptious things around you. Let this be your word of the day and let it embody you- and introduce others to ripsniptious of the word ripsniptious! It's fun to say, isn't it? It's even better to be it. It is also a wonderful compliment and I think you are pretty darn rupsniptious for visiting The Lower Haight Holler!

Planet-Positive and Paperless

     Try paying bills online, and not just because of the pandemic. By some estimates, if all households in the US paid their bills online and received electronic statements instead of paper, we'd save 18.5 million trees every year, 2.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and 1.7 billion pounds of solid waste (50waystohelp.org).

Practice Random Acts of Kindness (and Deliberate Ones, Too)

     Random Acts of Kindness Day is always the week of Valentine's Day. I love to hear how this meaningful movement has touched others' lives. Artist and author Peg Conley shares her thoughts:

    You've seen those bumper stickers, the ones encouraging you to commit "random acts of kindness?" What they can't tell you in that little space is how performing those acts can be a way of transforming yourself. When you begin to focus on extending kindness towards others, you'll feel more kindness coming towards you. Not only will you make someone else's day better, you'll be surprised how well yours improves. It's rather like the "Secret Santa" gift exchange that many offices and families adopt during the weeks leading up to Christmas. There is delight when you do something for another while keeping your identity a secret. When you watch a person receiving a surprise gift, you see their face change, the eyes open wide with delight, a smile bursting into a grin, and laughter erupting. They appear to feel sheer joy at the unexpected. The old adage is true: "It is giving that we receive." The other part of the quote, which is by a San Franciscan writer named Anne Herbert, is often left out: "and (practice) senseless acts of beauty." I received a text the other day from a friend who had taken a picture with her phone of a sidewalk outside a coffee shop where she works in San Francisco. Someone had written "It's a beautiful day" with colored chalk on the sidewalk and adorned it with butterflies and hearts. That,, to me, is a senseless act of beauty. Think how many people walked on that sidewalk that day and smiled at the childish scrawl reminding them on the beautiful day.

    The Hebrew word mitzvah means a good deed or an act of kindness. Judaism teaches that the world is built on kindness. I recall what my Bubbe, a dear friend in Salt Lake City who was my son's first caregiver, used to tell me about the importance of doing mitzvahs. She believes in the power of doing good for another person but telling them about it. She is a perfect example of someone who practices random acts of kindness, and also one who sees and acknowledges the beauty in everyone she meets. I always feel better just by being in her presence. Entire campaigns focused on practicing random acts of kindness have sprouted up. This, along with "having an attitude of gratitude," enriches my days in many ways. There are myriad ways you can practice random acts of kindness. Don't forget to include yourself when you are doing them!

Power for the Planet

    

    Turn off your computer at night instead of leaving it honor in sleep mode, since this wastes energy. By doing so, you can save an average of 40 watt-hours per day, which adds up to four cents a day, or $14 per year (50waystohelp.com). In addition, the life of your computer will also be extended, as the amount of available time for virus contamination will be greatly reduced. This act of conservation is a great idea you should share with your family.

I Just Called To Say I Love You

     Call your parents (or whoever raised you) and thank them for everything they did for you!

Valentine's Day

    It's that sometimes-anticipated-by-couples-yet-often-dreaded-by-singles day of the year! In the spirit of Valentine's Day, send an anonymous letter or bouquet of flowers to someone special to you, your mom, your recently-divorced best friend. This deliberate act of kindness will last long after the 14th as the memory lingers on.

    PS: A really nice thing to do the night before Valentine's Day is to offer to watch a friend or neighbor's children so they can run errands or spend time with their significant other.

Be a Good Citizen

    Rich Chin's family in New York City, pretty far away from any large expanse of wilderness, but that didn't get in his way. Rich shares his experiences that first made him see how he could be a good in the world:

    The Outward Bound Youth at Risk Program really helped many troubled teens get back  on the "good citizens" road. I was one of those Outward Bound instructors that volunteered to teach in this life-changing experiment for inner city kids in the late seventies and eighties. It changed my life as much as it did those kids. I saw firsthand that if so-called "bad kids" were given a chance to learn how to respect others as well as themselves, they could contribute very positively and be a part of our bright future.

    Kurt Hahn founded Outward Bound (OutwardBound.org) on this assumption: "In genuine service to the benefit of others, one best expresses on a day-to-day basis his reverence for life itself."

A Red Nose Can Change a Life

     Whether they're juggling many balls at once, riding a unicycle or walking on very tall stilts, youth get a chance to shine on stage with the Prescott Circus Theater in Oakland, California. This youth development non-profit provides skill mastery, physical activity, and positive relationships with peers and adults. Their website, prescottcircus.org, goes on to say "the basic principles to succeed in circus (and in life) are: hard work, teamwork, practice, believe in yourself, and never give up." Even with the pandemic, they are still looking for help in sharing these steps with everyone. Donate to the Prescott Circus and you'll be sure to bring many more smiles to the world.

Conscious Kindness

     When I lived in the Panhandle District, I would occasionally wonder to myself from whence the name came from. It is actually a skinny strip of land at the end of San Francisco's spectacular Golden Gate Park, like a handle on a skillet or big pan. But with so many down and out, there is a good bit of panhandling. In fact, it sometimes seems overwhelming, especially when, on any given day, I might be asked for money over a dozen times. I noticed that after 9/11, it became especially grim, as there was a scary economic downturn that accompanied all the other chaos.  So I developed a system of my own: I always keep change in the little pocket of my driver's side door handle. And I prioritize giving it to moms with kids, children, and amputees- anyone who really seems in need of help right now. When I've been driving an author around on tour or out-of-town visitors, they have been startled when I mutter, "Oh, an amputee; let me see what I have on me." I explain my seeming rudeness by explaining that this is my personalized system for giving to panhandlers, and that I was almost an amputee. A few years back, I was hit and run by a drunk driver, which terribly injured my leg. My doctor suggested amputating- but I managed to talk him out of that idea. I had to learn to walk again. It took a long time and caused a lot of pain. So I always think, "That could have been me!" and I want to help. Many a vet who served their country come back without a limb. This really is the least I can do and wanting to do more is one of the reasons behind this book.

It Is Getting Better

    Join the 594,740 people who have taken the It Gets Better Pledge.

    Have you take the pledge? Everyone deserves to be respected for who they are. I pledge to spread this message to my friends, family, and neighbors. I'll speak up against hate and intolerance whenever I see it, at school and at work. I'll provide hope for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other bullied teens by letting them know that it gets better. Sign on up at itgetsbetter.org to support LGBTQ+ children and help teens live a bully-free life!

National Stop Bullying Day

     Over three million students are victims of bullying each year. If you see anyone being put down or harassed, stand up for them, or call the authorities if it's getting violent. Reading more on how to help at dosomething.org. Stand up!

Think with Your Heart

     Shortly after retirement, Leon Delong, a very thoughtful Seattleite, wanted to utilize his new free time and he decided to do something meaningful. When he heard that city office towers were routinely throwing away half-used toilet paper, he started gathering them and delivering them to a local food ban, where they were given to the homeless and those in financial need. Over the last 15 years, the 76-year-old delivered over one million rolls of toilet paper. "I'm amazed how much this mattered to people," Delong said. "To me, it was just a nice thing to do. Now, it's my claim to fame." What is your claim to fame?

A Mission of Importance

    When I lived in the Lower Haight neighborhood of San Francisco, I drove for a food bank for AIDS patients in my rusted-out little car that I brought all the way from West Virginia. I had arrived in the mid-eighties, which we may all remember as the height of the AIDS crisis. One early morning, I was walking to the Church Street MUNI station and there was the food bank, with giant pink letters announcing itself as a place to lend a hand for the AIDS crisis. I went in and within two minutes had a shift and assignments for the week. Everyone in there seemed extremely cool to me. They were not grim at all, but seemed to have a mission of importance. It seemed such a small way to help during that scary time. I learned that regardless of what you can give, large or small, it is important to give of yourself. And it all does add up!

    Feeding America is the largest hunger relief organization in the United States and they need you.  Please visit feedingamerica.org to find your local food bank or hunger organization. Get involved- you'll make a difference and you'll make friends along the way. I sure did, and they remain my friends to this day.

360 Degrees of Giving

     My favorite kinds of gifts are the ones that keep on giving. The FEED Project has many cool options that are made in America and crafted with love and pride. A beautifully carved cutting board for your best friend's birthday from FeedProjects.com will not only impress them but help feed the hungry. I love their FEED bags, which are a handy way to ditch the plastic and the paper, too.

Thank-You Power

     Upon learning about the Veteran's History Project, I was reminded that our servicemen and women are doing just that: service. And they should be thanked for it. Many of these noble souls are very far away on active duty and receive little mail to their camp or barrack. Take a few moments to acknowledge their contribution and offer a friendly hello back home in the USA. You can learn all about Operation Write Home at operationwritehome.gov. I have heard of great pen pal relationships that result from this gesture of gratitude.

We All Have a Story

     My dad loves to tell stories of being in World War II and he did have many dramatic tales of saving lives. He even delivered a Japanese POW's letter to his parents in Tokyo, a major act of kindness that involved a great deal of risk. I really wish I had recorded them, but I still carry Dad's stories and share them in his honor. Our elders, in particular, have much to share and life lessons we could all learn from. The Library of Congress is gathering these by sending out volunteers to video record in the Veteran's History Project (loc.gov.vets). To me, one of the most special aspects of this oral history project is that it not only includes the Greatest Generation, but also features young people coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, whose stories are equally precious. I think we are learning that every generation has true greatness.

Helping Those Who Want to Help Themselves

     We all remember the Biblical parable about teaching a man to fish so he can provide for himself and his family. Two thousand years later, we can do exactly this. My dad taught me how to fish in a pond back home on the farm in West Virginia. Even as a seven-year-old, I noticed that we not only got a couple of day's worth of yummy trout for our effort buy my papa, a former Marine with many battle scars, seemed to relax after an afternoon at the pond. You can gift a $49 fishing kit in a loved one's name or set up a recurring monthly donation at Action Against Hunger (ActionAgainstHunger.org), which feeds over 7 million people each year. Go fish!

Sharing Your Strength

    The I worked on the Random Acts of Kindness project, we looked around for places to donate profits from the books and Share Our Strength came highly recommended. It reminds an organization I deem to be a real good in the world. Did you know one in five children live in a home that struggles to put food on the table? Join SOS' campaign nokidhungry.org so we can take care of those who need it most.

Help Girls Score!

    Today is National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Started in 1987, it brings attention to the positive influence that sports participation has and to how it advances equality. The Women's Sports Foundation encourages moms to get more involved with their daughters' sports. Their website womenssportsfoundation.org, gives lots of advice on how to get involved, prevent discrimination, and increase participation, along with information on coaching issues, clinics, funding, and more. Sports can be a huge help with young girls' self-confidence, skill, determination, and inner success, all of which can carry through into their later years. If you succeed in sports, you lead in life.