I want to start two new things this year on this blog

One is from a book I got at the book fair called Every Monday Matters; 52 Ways to Make a Difference by Matthew Emerizian and Kelly Bozza. It's been around for awhile (since 2008)--it's in Amazon's bargain books and I'm embarrassed that I got it for a whopping $3, since proceeds are supposed to go to charity. But still....

Essentially you take everyone's least favourite day of the week, Monday, and do something that does something positive. Ideas for each week are found in the book. There is also a website with more ideas and things that people have done. Some of them I do often or have already done, like give blood, become an organ or marrow donor, receive AMBER alerts, turn off the TV, etc. But there's plenty I haven't done. I guess the main thing is it gets you to be mindful of things you can do to make things better either for you, or for others. For the first week, the assignment, if you will, is to make a list of what matters most to you. Here's mine:

1. Friends--my support system
   
2. Family--my roots
   
3. Sanity--what I struggle with
   
4. Growth--what I strive for
   
5. Health--what I need to survive
   
6. Spirituality--connexion with a higher power
   
7. Environment--connexion to all around us
   

The second thing I'd like to do is a little microphilanthropy. As you probably know by now, I don't have a lot of money; I don't own a house, or a car. But there is still room to make a difference by giving what I can, maybe in small increments, but taken together, with those of others, it can really help. So each week I'm going to promote a charity or cause and do what I can to support it. I'm going to do this on Fridays (get it, Philanthropy Friday, it's quite catchy.) I got the inspiration from this from Living Philanthropic, where a guy has donated in small amounts to different charities every day (he's on day #256 as of this writing). It's a great idea. I don't think I can swing every day--but giving a little a week is doable. This week I may have to do a donation in kind [essentially giving away stuff]. (I've got a total of $35 to last until the 13th of this month, so that's 10 days). But the idea is getting into the spirit of giving, and thereby making a difference.

So there you go--those are my ways of trying to make the world a little better in 2011. What are you doing?