Pocket Mouse

Kiva

I'd been meaning to join Kiva for a long time, so last night I finally signed up and contributed to six loans.  I think most people are already aware of what the site's about, but basically you lend small amounts of money (starting at $25) to entrepreneurs in developing countries.  When the loans are paid back, you can either withdraw your money, or lend to another individual.  My loans were for a woman who makes and sells cornbread, a woman who sells homemade ice cream, a woman who sells cakes and needs money for home repairs, a woman who wants to open an examination room/first aid center, a woman who owns an orange orchard, and a woman who sells homemade popsicles.  My lender page is here.

I was going to post links this morning to see if I could get other people to lend to these women, so imagine my surprise when I logged on to discover that all the money they needed had been raised overnight! Wow.  I think this is going to become a bit addictive for me. :)

you are beautiful

Ok, either Typepad doesn't let you cheat and back-date posts or I'm too dumb to figure it out.  Either way, I totally screwed up my only New Year's resolution by not posting here yesterday.  But at least it was because I was busy doing Sleepy Records stuff and not just being lazy.  Perhaps I'll do two posts today to make up for it.

I've been admiring this project for a long time now, but I finally sent away for my free stickers yesterday:

The stickers say "you are beautiful" and can be placed anywhere as a positive message to anyone who sees them.  From the project's mission statement:

You Are Beautiful is a simple, powerful statement which is incorporated into the over absorption of mass media and lifestyles that are wrapped in consumer culture.

The intention behind this project is to reach beyond ourselves as individuals to make a difference by creating moments of positive self realization. We're just attempting to make the world a little better.

Intention is the most important aspect of the You Are Beautiful project in its idea of purity. Nothing is sacred. Everything that has a perceived value becomes commodified. We work extremely hard that this message is received as a simple act of kindness, and nothing more.

Advertising elicits a response to buy, where this project elicits a response to do something. The attempt with You Are Beautiful is to create activism instead of consumerism.

You Are Beautiful uses the medium of advertising and commercialization to spread a positive message. Projects like these make a difference in the world by catching us in the midst of daily life and creating moments of positive self realization.

You can find information on getting your own stickers here.