Tag: Spread love this Christmas

24 Good Deeds You Can Do Right Now (with little to no cost)

Simple Good Deeds You Can Do Right Now | Inspiration, Positivity, Holiday

One of the best things about the holiday season is the celebration, the gift-giving, and spreading love.

Also fun fact: did you know St. Nicholas (or Niklaus) was actually a 4th century bishop from what is now modern-day Turkey? He was known for giving gifts to children, among many other awesome deeds. There’s a very informative Twitter thread about this.

Simple Good Deeds You Can Do Right Now | Inspiration, Positivity, Holiday

So onto the spirit of the historically accurate St. Nicholas, here is a list of some simple yet wholesomely good things you can do right now that have little to no cost:

  • Compliment a stranger.
  • Greet the guards and school janitors.
  • Donate to a charity. For example: the rhinos will definitely appreciate your few bucks. Imagine a happy, healthy rhino. Save a rhino today.
  • Gift a bookworm a book you’ve read. Or, even better, gift them a book on their wishlist.
    Speaking of which, if you want to give a book to a marginalized teen, consider donating through Diverse Book Bridge.
    Not everyone has public libraries with an amazing array of books, much less an easy access to a public library. So reading a book with a great rep that the teen can absolutely relate to would be an awesome gift 🙂

https://twitter.com/DivBookBridge/status/943977922502758400

  • Help someone cross the street.
  • Hug a friend.
  • Thank your parents.
  • Thank everyone who has impacted your life in some way this year. And American friends, I get it. This is what Thanksgiving is for but, I mean. Nothing wrong with expressing gratitude one more time this year, yes? 🙂
  • Tell your fam you love them.
  • Buy someone a coffee. Like me. I would greatly appreciate it if you buy me a coffee <3
  • Buy from a street vendor.
  • Treat retail workers and waiters like the actual human beings that they are.
  • Actually, treat any living thing like the actual live beings that they are. Translation: don’t be a jerk.
  • Listen to a geek geek out.
  • Be curious about someone else’s interests.
  • Don’t skip the ads.
  • Boost someone else’s project. Actually, boost anyone and everyone who needs more lovin’.

Here’s a quick list of awesome people and their projects that I want to boost:

<3 This video by Eden which sounds like a great idea we should all do every holiday.

<3 The Chameleon Project by anonora in which she will host a bunch of creatives in her blog next year.

<3 Maud of My Passion Projects whose blog I recently discovered and is a Super Awesome Blogger, no doubt about that.

<3 L.C. Fiore’s The Last Great American Magic, because it is an amazing read and must be read by everyone, in my opinion. Also, you can check out other novels by indie authors that I highly recommend here.

<3 Lia creating a database of publishers that send ARCs (or Advance Reading Copies*) to international reviewers.

  • Do your online shopping using someone’s affiliate link.
  • Use the correct pronouns.
  • Respect someone saying no. Actually, just respect everyone. Again, don’t be a jerk.
  • Reach out to friends you’ve gotten out of touch.
  • Leave thoughtful comments on videos and posts.
  • Share the content of your favorite creative.
  • Credit a creative’s work. This one I want everyone, especially myself, to be more aware of from now on.

Whew. This was supposed to be a 300+ short but sweet listicle post but I kind of got carried away…? So yeah hehe 😀

My point here is this: it does not cost you much to give something to other people. And you don’t necessarily have to give money or other material things. Even the things you thought was trivial can be a huge deal to someone else.

And so this list is a reminder to everyone, including myself, of the good things you can do to anyone right this moment. Pick one—or three or more—and share the holiday love 🙂

How else can you do something nice to someone with little to no cost? Share them below!

kate

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PS: If you like this post, here are other little things you can do to spread love this holiday season.

* edit: I first wrote “author review copies” like the pathetic potato that I am lolol

December 23, 2017 6 Comments

The Little Things You Can Do to Spread Love This Holiday Season

The Little Things You Can Do to Spread Love This Holiday Season

Yo, we have less than a week left until Christmas! *dances holiday happy dance*

Last Wednesday, I talked about happiness and how to let it into your life every day. Today I want to talk about, well, you’ve read it in the title: spreading love.

The Little Things You Can Do to Spread Love This Holiday Season

As the song goes, “Give love on Christmas Day,” amirite? So I thought this topic’s timely for this month. But like I mentioned with happiness, spreading love isn’t exclusively done during the holidays. And the list below contains things anyone can do any-freakin-time.

So let’s get to it, yeah?

Smile to Strangers

You may be looking at those words funny and you may be thinking, “Whaaaat. Why would I even do that? That’s embarrassing.” Or something similar.

I’m telling you right now: I totally get you. Even I would have cringed at the idea. To me, that borders on creepy and simply doesn’t make any sense. It’s like you’re coming on to a random person. Totally WTH moment, right? So what do I do? I look for context.

It could be something as simple as smiling at a mom whose cute little baby is staring at you in public transport. (I actually do this) Or maybe the dudes in the meat section of the grocery are doing some holiday-related gimmick. (And they look funny) These may be little things but they’re at-the-moment somethings that becomes a shared experience with a stranger.

I watched this TEDx Talk video before where a woman was in the middle of a prank called the no-pants subway ride. She was so uncomfortable with all of it. But the guys in front of her just laughed at it all and, when she made eye contact with them, she smiled. Boom, a shared experience. Weird, sure, but it’s more fun when you share the experience with someone.

Give a Random Compliment

Now unlike the smiling one, this would definitely be weird to do on strangers whether there’s a context or no. I know there are people who would be uncomfortable to speak out to complete strangers. *points at self* So do it to a family or friend or an acquaintance. Someone you’ve at least talked to before.

I find that people are often surprised to be given a random compliment and deep down, it flatters them.

Of course, if you want to, you can give a compliment to a complete stranger. See how they’ll react. And if you’re being completely genuine, they’d be genuinely surprised themselves.

Bond with Your Family

I know some people aren’t really close to their family and would choose their friends over them. I’m guilty of doing this sometimes. But see, one thing I’ve learned recently is that your friends will change and some would go separate ways, pursuing their career. I myself only have a handful of my high school friends that I keep in touch regularly. But my family? They’re always there. They can be an unbearable bunch, sure. But they’re always there.

Participate in Programs or Holiday Events

Although Christmas parties are common examples of a holiday program, there are certain events or projects both in the real and virtual world that mainly aim to spread love, not by some fancy celebratory feasts and exchange gifts, but by giveaways and charities and outreaches.

For instance, the amazing Teenella created the Blogger’s Secret Santa where you get to post something nice about a fellow blogger. I joined in and no, I’m not telling who I got. In an author fan group I’m part of, they will be holding giveaways to readers who can’t afford to buy as much books as they want. All of these are relatively tiny things, really. But the amazing part is how people gather together to contribute and participate in them.

You know these are small stuff. But they can be fun and life-enriching at the same time. 2016 was a bad year for many so I really don’t want to add up into all the negativity. This holiday season, you can give out hope and a little light by doing little things. And I’m telling you, it’ll go a long way.

There’s this certain quote posted in our uni’s guidance office that I think is befitting for this post:

doing-good-does-you-good

Don’t make it an obligation. Give love willingly and without any expectations. And you’ll feel it: elation and happiness. That feeling of your heart warming up and stretching out. And I promise, it does feel good.

Have a love-filled day, awesome peeps!💞

December 14, 2016 1 Comment