Share Your Skills

Teach someone a craft or skill you are good at. Sharing your talent with someone else may

allow them to discover their own potential. Whether it’s cooking, archery, or photography, spend

some time doing what you love with another. Teaching people how to do something new will

help you maintain your interest and establish a connection with the person you are with. No

doubt you will learn just as much from being a teacher.

Teach What You Know

My family recently wondered what I would ever do with an English degree. One of many things I’ve done is mentor a student in grammar and hopefully foster a love of reading, the benefits of which will last a lifetime. Check out the vast array of opportunities to teach and to learn at teachforamerica.org.

The Good Old Days and the Good New Days

Share happy memories. Keep in touch with a friend by sending an old photo to them via snail mail and write a short note about the day it was taken on the back of the photo.

Treat People Well

Bring homemade goodies to work. For many of us, we work five days a week with the same people in the same office for the same amount of hours. What could be more uplifting than  arriving at work to the sight and smell of baked goods or snacks? Make something that most people would enjoy, such as chocolate chip cookies or banana bread. The work environment will become much more warm and inviting, and making others feel good is one of the true pleasures in life.

A Book Can Change Your Life

Give someone a copy of a book that has helped or influenced you-it may have a similar effect on them. I actually keep a stock of books that I love on hand to do just that and have recently gifted a few copies of The Power Of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Give it a read.

Share Your Toys

Leave small, handmade toys for people to find. The Toy Society spreads love by doing this good deed. Visit thetoysociety.blogspot.com for more information and inspiration. You can post your toy drop on the website and view the drops that others have made. Feel free to share a picture and revel in the thought of bringing a child happiness-it might also be a good idea to leave a note

Do the Thing You think You Cannot Do

My friend Clare Cooley practices this courageous philosophy and now teaches others how to “Imagine a Day.” Clare is probably the ultimate autodidact; she had to drop out of school pretty early to take care of family members. This has not stopped her from learning and doing anything she sets her mind to, from design, filmmaking, and painting to crafting, writing, and music. One of Clare’s most spectacular gifts is her show-stopping skate dancing and there are many YouTube videos that strangers have taped and uploaded of her whirling and twirling. Clare, who chose to not allow economic difficulties and a lack of formal education prevent her from succeeding in life, has gone on to show her ceramics and naturalist paintings in museums and galleries around the country. She says, “Lack of imagination is the only limitation and fear creates self-doubt.” In her teaching, she helps people get out of “fear mode” and unlock the power of imagination. You can see her beautiful artwork at clarecooley.com.

I urge you to Imagine a Day-pick something you always wanted to do, but were afraid to try. Painting, French cookery, playing piano, singing, learning a foreign language, yoga, rock- climbing, ballroom dancing, pottery, snorkeling-something that speaks to you on a profound level but scares you just a little. Find a class or barter with someone who is an  expert to whom you can teach something, and dive right in.

A Book Can Change Your Life

Give someone a copy of a book that has helped or influenced you-it may have a similar effect on them. I actually keep a stock of books that I love on hand to do just that and have recently gifted a few copies of The Power Of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Give it a read.

Sharing Your Strength

When 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 remains 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’s campaign nokidhungry.org so we can take care of those who need it most.

Green Day

    If you are able to, walk or ride your bike to school, work, or wherever you need to go. By not using your car, you are helping to reduce greenhouse gases while burning some calories at the same time! You can also use public transit or carpool with a friend- this also gives you the golden opportunity to bond with your coworkers or get to know more about your friend.

The Good Old Days and the Good New Days

    Share happy memories. Keep in touch with a friend by sending an old photo to them via snail mail and write a short note about the day it was taken on the back of the photo.

Love Your Mother

    Mother's Day is all about love, so shouldn't have to be only once a year. Celebrate your mother today and every day. Make her feel special and loved by taking her out to lunch or a mani/pedi. Spending time together will make every moment a fond memory you two can cherish for a long time. For your friends who may have lost their mother, check in with them. Spread the love far and wide so everyone can have that holiday magic.

Hold a Closet Swap Soiree

    You can share your surplus clothes with friends and acquaintances by throwing a “naked lady party.” This is a fun way to exchange clothes as well as other items. First, set a date, and invite a group of friends to your house (we do ladies only, but men could be included, too) and ask everybody to bring some clothes that they don’t want anymore. Set up your living room as a shop, designating different areas for guests to deposit their items-dresses in one pile, sweaters in another, and so on. Be sure to make a bedroom available to those friends who are too shy to try on clothes in company. We usually have wine and some snacks, and we end up bags of new-to-us clothing. Don’t be bashful-things that you are heartily sick of will be starring in somebody else’s wardrobe, and the surplus can be dispatched to the thrift store.

Share Your Hair

    Do you have long hair, or don’t mind growing it out for a good cause? Donate to Locks of Love, a group truly contributing to the good of others. Visit their website at locksoflove.org for more information. I recently read of a five-year-old girl who gave her hair to a fellow kindergartner going through chemo. With kids like her in the world, our future is bright!

Share the Positive

    When you read an online article that you found helpful, moving, or enlightening, take a  moment to leave a positive comment at the bottom of the page. Acknowledge the writer for their style or content, or even add some additional information that you have about the topic. The writer- and other readers- may appreciate what you have to say. If it inspires you, share it too. I started subscribing to lifehack.org and every morning, I come in to read some truly excellent and uplifting ideas in my inbox. I share the very best ones and have heard from Facebook friends and fellow Tweeps that they love ‘em. So as the old saying goes, accentuate the positive!

Random Acts of Roses

    Use your flower power: go to the local discount store and pick up some small vases. Add a ribbon, some freshly picked flowers, and deliver the arrangements to elders at a local community center, nurses in the ER, or anywhere you know people can use little random acts of roses.

Shower the People You Love with Love

After a wedding or party, donate all the flowers to a nursing home or hospital. Alternately, take them to your place of work and fill the entire office with beauty and love.

Seek Out the Shy

    Rescue a wallflower. Most people know what it’s like to go to a party and end up standing by yourself. If you see someone alone, mosey on over to them and strike up a conversation. Nine times out of ten, they will have the most interesting things to say out of anybody at the party or dance.

Write Letters and Send Postcards

    The things that make me the happiest have emotional and physical effects. These effects are felt even more when they are done for someone else. One of the most lasting is writing a personal letter. Born in the transitional time between letters and computers, many people in my generation have already shunned snail mail as a way to communicate. This makes letters rare, but a very inexpensive surprise. My grandmother was one of seven children, and they communicated with a round-robin letter. From mailbox to mailbox, they would add an update on their life and send it around to the next sibling. She taught me that letters are a valuable form of communication, something she’s emphasized as her memory slowly fades. I got into the habit of writing letters and during the times where I was most stressed, I would write a letter. Letters live somewhere between thoughts and stories. They are confidential and a piece of yourself that you can choose to scrap or share. 

    When I receive a letter, especially from someone whom I haven’t heard from in a while, I get a rush of endorphins, because I’m holding proof that the friend thought of me. It’s the same rush I get when someone is considerate or goes out of their way to help me. Most friends reciprocate with a call to say how happy they were to open a personal note rather than another bill. 

    I studied epistolary literature in college, often using my break from studying as a chance to write letters. Perhaps letters will go the way of Wells Fargo wagons, but I’ll single-handedly support the post office as long as my friends have addresses and my fingers can write. Letters are my personal therapy, my rush of endorphins, my connection with those I love, and my alone time-my regular serving of happiness.

Start Chatting It Up

    My boyfriend has that magic ability to talk to anyone; 99% of the time, he makes a new friend, too. It is fun to watch him in action and he is definitely somebody you want to bring to parties and social occasions. 

    Be open to conversing with new people and becoming friendly with them. If you’re at a bookstore and see someone holding a book you like, strike up a conversation and ask them about it. You may make a new acquaintance or find out that they’re in the same business as you. You can network yourself, share ideas, and make connections at any time. 

    In line at the Pacific Cafe on Geary Street in San Francisco, we met a woman whose cousin from mainland China was being held in immigration detention for not having the proper paperwork. My boyfriend, who is fluent in Cantonese, was able to offer vital information to this family. You never know when you might need the help of a total stranger!