This is a post I’ve been giving a lot of thought to of late. I recently expanded my blogging horizons and joined the Pink Saturday project; this in turn has introduced me to loads of other fellow bloggers with similar outlooks to me. What has taken me by surprise is the number of comments I’ve received saying how kind, generous and utterly fabulous I am because of my weekly GiveAways … OK, so I made the utterly fabulous bit up! In reality, as much as I’ve loved reading all those comments, I’ve been a wee bit embarrassed by it all. Because, you know, I’m just an ordinary 41-year-old wife and mummy trying to find my way through life, without annoying too many other people along the way.
There’s an EcoCamp down on the River Thames at Kew Bridge just now. Technically, they are breaking the law by squatting on land owned by a housing development company but I think they are doing it for the right reasons. They have a banner facing Kew Bridge which reads, “Be the change you wish to see” and that has given me food for thought. With that in mind, add into the equation this quotation from my hero, Winston Churchill, “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give” and you might just get where I’m coming from. Also factored into this is David Bruno’s 100 Thing Challenge, a challenge that left a huge impression on me.
I’m fed up with this take, take, take attitude that seems to be ever encroaching into our culture and I want to make a stand. And this is one of the ways I’m making changes, albeit very small ones, and one done in a way to please me. I scrapbook and I have way too much stash. My GiveAways enable me to make things from pretty paper and card and then know that a stranger will gain joy from them (hopefully!). The other changes include the use of Freecycle, regular donations of goods to charity shops and regular monetary donations to our chosen charities (Cancer Research, The Royal British Legion, Help For Heroes and Guide Dogs For The Blind).
I’m not sure that I’ve articulated this post as well as I’d planned in my head, I certainly don’t want anyone reading this to believe that I’m on my soap-box, preaching the Gospel according to Saint Ruth, but I hope you can understand what I’m trying to say.
I’m not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination, but I hope I’m living a good life, a life that my son will be proud of.
This West London Life 
I think that's a wonderful idea and very admirable, Ruth. I need to do more for our local charities in terms of giveaways. I am more and more convicted of that of late. Great post!
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Freecycle and the 100 Things are projects for our new abode 🙂
Perhaps it's time we all took a stand?
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