19 May

The Spirit of Giving

Many of you know about the big annual blogging conference coming up called BlogHer. Heck, a big ol’ bunch of you are going. I thought about going, OK, I agonized over it. There was a buzz around it when I fist began blogging a few months back and my original thought was, “How FUN would that be? But how silly of me to go to something like that as such a newbie. I dismissed it for the reason of mere Mother-Martyrdom. But a martyr only to myself. See, I have this tape that plays over and over again in my mind, “You can’t afford that Tracey. You can’t expect to just fly off and spend the weekend doing something fun. You don’t deserve it. You’re not a real blogger.” The dialogue goes on and on. YAWN.

Well, recently I have become aware of some incredible people doing some really generous things. I’m talking about the GIVING of the BlogHer Tickets. First, I came across Sue of Red Stapler who held a contest to give a ticket away. My inner dialogue began to shift. I got all giddy…”maybe I am worthy, maybe the fates will allow me to go by winning this contest, maybe I am a real enough blogger, maybe, maybe…” Hope, confidence, and excitement crept in and I was feeling great. But I didn’t win the contest. IzzyMom did. And if anyone deserves to be the recipient of a random act of kindness it’s Izzy. And what does she do? Turns right around and GIVES it to someone else. Someone who needed it and is grateful and I’m really happy for her. How can I not be?? So, instead of being disappointed, I am inspired. So much generosity…it’s refreshing and uplifting to say the least. Winner or not, Sue’s contest gave me just what I needed. A little lift, a change of heart, the glimmer of hope that wonderful things happen all the time and it’s through giving that they do and above all that I am worthy and deserving of whatever my heart desires.

And now, I present you Clay Cook from Minti. He has TWO tickets he’s giving away for the conference. The kindness-can you take the kindness? At the news, my heart leapt. Another chance! So I sent in my paragraph about why he should choose me and am eagerly waiting word. And, get this one, I wasn’t going to blog about it because well, I wanted to win and I didn’t want to share. But, that just doesn’t feel right. It feels really crappy. So, I’ve had another shift of the change-of-heart kind. See what all this generosity is doing to me??? It’s making me a better person all around. I love when that happens. SO, I am encouraging you to check out Clay’s post at Minti about the give-away and try it for yourself, if you’re so inclined. Minti is a super-cool site for parents anyway, so be sure to stop by.

Who knows, maybe I’ll see you at Blogher, one way or another. And if not, I know there will be a gazillion incredible bloggers that will post about it!

Good luck. And I really do mean it!