Paying it forward.

We have had a lovely day out with our teenage sons today.  We didn't go far, geographically, as the destination was our home town - a mere five minutes by car.  We did, however, travel back in time as it was the Vintage Weekend.  This is a celebration of all things Vintage, with our main street lined with vintage cars (everything you can imagine from 1906 to 1980!), shopkeepers and stallholders at the market dressed in a range of vintage fashions, Generation Wedding Dress and Steampunk fashion shows, buskers, stage bands, traction engine rides and generally lots of family fun.

This evening my husband went out to do some photography.  It was not quite work, as he wasn't getting paid for any of it, but good photos come from practise not purchase so he enjoys the chance to shoot something out of the ordinary for once.  And last night, it was just about as out of the ordinary as you could get!  He was photographing the Vintage Weekend Burlesque Show, which featured a range of performers of both genders, and which had a sell-out audience.

He left home at 5.00 and didn't get home until nearly midnight, because he helped with the final set-up and also with the tidy-up afterwards.  How could he not?  The organiser's a friend of ours, and she needed a hand.  He will also spend the next couple of days working on the images, making sure they are all just right before he releases them onto the Victory Burlesque Facebook page.  They are all downloadable and if any performers need a higher resolution image for promotional material they just email him and he makes it available to them.

He doesn't earn any money from this, and it takes hours of his time. So why does he do it? (and the roller derby games, the trolley derby on Monday, the opening of the new RSA cafe, my school leavers' formal dinner etc etc etc)

Because we both believe in paying it forward.

Acts of generosity make our community a better place to be.  Everybody feels appreciated and valued - and they are more likely to behave in a lovely way as a result.

This is why we organise a pechakucha-style event in our town.  Called Pic/Chat 19/19 we have a number of speakers who talk about their passion.  They show 19 slides and talk for 19 seconds about each slide.  We work alongside a trio of people from our local art gallery (which was set up in 1919, hence the timeframes) to contact speakers, hire the venue, serve the refreshments and send handwritten thankyou notes to our speakers after the event.  I curate the Facebook page, and post twice a week about the event, including photographs and video of the speakers.

We fill our venues every time, but make no profit - that's not what it's about.  We cover our costs, and do this voluntarily, taking no money for ourselves either.  That's not what it's about.

Be the change you want to see in the world, said Ghandi.  Well I'd like people to be more open, more kind and more generous with each other, and I guess that starts with me.