Here are two more paper bag adventures. What I love about service, is how good it feels to do. It isn't a burden or a heavy weight. It is something people seem to love to do. I recently gave out well over 50 bags to the volunteer team during a second year weekend at USM (http://www.universityofsantamonica.edu/). I can't wait to hear from more people.

 

"…my car has been filthy for a couple of months now and unfortunately I don't have the means to wash it in the apartment building i live in. So I went to get my car washed with my coupon and while I was waiting for my car to be done I was really looking at the guys who clean the cars and I thought they work so hard and are probably rarely acknowledged. I can only afford to give them 2 or 3 dollars and was thinking how nice it would be to be able to give them more and then WHAM....I remembered your bag and that I had $10 from it that I still needed to give away and I knew I wanted to give it to the guy who was cleaning my car! And I'm sooooooo glad I did. He was so sweet and appreciative. When he looked at the $10 his face lit up like a little kids and he said "This is a lot". I said "well I want to thank you for doing such a good job and acknowledge you for it." He was so thankful and as he walked away I was looking at him in my rear view mirror and watched him show another guy how much he got with a huge smile on his face. HE WAS SO CUTE AND I FELT SOOOOO GOOD! I was on a high for the rest of the day. Thank you Jo Anna.....sincerely for this opportunity.

Love

Alexia"

 

"Hi Jo Anna,

 

I loooove your bag project!!

I'm glad I took 2 bags!  I haven't used the second one yet, but here's my story about this first one:

 

I opened it and inside was a glorious $5.00 bill!!  Well, with my Jewish genetics and the state of the economy today, my first thought was something like - "Oh, I can be of service to myself!!"  Then, of course, the guilt set in so I decided that wasn't a very good idea!!   (Editor's Note: I think being of service to yourself is a totally legit and needed form of service.)

 

I went to bed Saturday night and set an intention to get clarity on what to do with it.  I woke up with no clear direction.  I then did my SE's (a form of medita tion) before I went to USM and at the end of my SE's it was VERY clear - bring it back to USM and give it to Ron and Mary as a seed for 50 million dollars for the web project!!!  I was able to catch them as they were arriving and gave it to them.  Ron asked for the bag as well so he could see what you are doing, so I couldn't pass that one on, but I have another one - after I use it, I'll put a surprise in it and pass it on!

 

I felt really great about doing that.  It seemed like a very special $5.00!!

 

Thank you for offering this to us all.  I'm excited to read what other folks have done!

Much Loving to you and Light to your project!

In joy,

Berti"

 

Here's another one!

"I loved your idea, I sent the card in my Bag to my God Mother because her name came to me when I opened it, put some cash in the bag and gave it to a friend who lives in MA. 

What fun!  Love and light, Brenda"

One of my favorites

I felt called to put a variety of objects in the bags other than cash and cards. I put in stickers and journals and jewelry I made, just to name a few. It felt kind of like a dare…to use things we may have around to share the goodness. This e-mail feels very validating to that intuitive hit. It is also incredibly sweet and loving act of service.

"Hi Jo Anna!

I think this is a brilliant project. I hope you write a book about it! 

Here's a bag update for you.

My bag contained a few little cards of children's stickers. Mostly Disney characters like Winnie the Pooh, Tinker Bell, and Some Princesses. I had no idea what to do with them at first, as I have an 11-year-old daughter who has TONS of those kind of stickers laying around already, and this just seemed like a few more of the same.

But it did give me a chance to pause and see the stickers (which I usually just perceive as part of the mess in my daughter's room) in isolation and as something potentially very fun.  So that was worth a grin, and I decided to put the bag aside and wait until inspiration would come.

Well, it didn't come. I was cleaning out my office yesterday and found the bag and was tempted just to throw it away because I had no idea what to do with a few more kids stickers. Then I realized that my daughter and one of her friends were playing together outside, and they might have an idea or two. I took them the entire bag, with the instructions on it, and asked if they could think of something to do with it.

They came back in a few minutes later asking for some eggs!! I gave them the eggs and they poked holes in them and blew out the guts. Then they carefully rinsed and dried the shells, got out their crayons and the stickers from the bag, decorated the egg shells, ran colorful pieces of yarn through them and hung them on a branch they chose from outside.  Then they took the entire branch (a decorated "egg tree" if you will) upstairs to an elderly, wheelchair bound neighbor of ours who was beside herself with delight at the sight of this beautiful egg tree that will now enliven her home for Easter.

So there you go! The idea works, even if it's not always immediately evident HOW it's going to work!  :-)

Thanks for the chance to play.

Take care,

Lynn"

NEXT ACTION STEPS

I would love to connect with some teachers and have a class participate in The Brown Paper Bag Project.

My ideal scene would be to work, initially, with one elementary class and one high school class. I would come in and do a brief presentation and discussion on the project. Each kid would get a bag and have to use it in an act of service. My thought was that it could be used as a writing or art project (or even film project) for the class, with the students documenting what they did with the bags. I could come back in, if appropriate, and the class could do a presentation.

If you are a teacher or a parent or know one is might want to do this or just want a bag of your own, let me know.

Thanks!

I have just finished making up about 100 bags. They are filled with lots of fun stuff to inspire people to be of service. I am excited to start giving them out.

I've been thinking a lot about what service means. There are a few Merriam-Webster definitions that seem to go along well with this project:

"a: the work performed by one that serves <good service> b:
help , use , benefit <glad to be of service> c: contribution to the welfare of others

the act of serving: as a: a helpful act <did him a service> "

I like the "helpful act" bit along with "contribution to the welfare of others" part. A helpful act can be a smile, a prayer, a donation, a gift, a kind word. The sky is only limited by our imagination and willingness. I like doing this project because I feel like it dares people to think, sometimes outside of the box or their comfort zone, about how they can contribute to the world given what they have. And everyone seems to get really excited about the process. I never imagined that people would be as inspired as they have been to continuing to spread the goodness in their own ways. People are passing on the bags, making their own bags and inspiring others. I think this whole thing is gonna be really fun.

I recommend Carolyn Myss's Invisible Acts of Power for an in depth look at the subject of service.

Here is another awesome tale of service from the amazing Shelley:

"What happened exactly was that I was in Pavilions and there was an older woman (mother) in a wheelchair shopping with what I later learned was her adult daughter.  The mother was really sounding irritated because her daughter was putting items in the grocery cart that the mother was loudly advising that she couldn't afford because she only had $20. The daughter sounded frustrated because her mother was speaking to her in the way only a mother can when a mother is irritated. So, that is when you came to mind Jo Anna, at that moment I remembered that you suggested that we pay it forward. I got the daughter's attention and asked if it would be ok for me to give her the additional $10 to support her with her shopping. I told her about you and your intention to pay it forward ... they just kept saying THANK YOU JESUS! GOD BLESS YOU! GOD BLESS YOUR FRIEND!"

 

Assistance and more goodness

I am open to suggestions on how to expand this project. People seem to be really excited and receptive to it. Some opportunities have presented themselves to hand out even more bags and spread the goodness even further. I am really open to the universe making this happen…I am out of the "how" business. I am in the receiving business…and giving from the overflow.

I got another e-mail about a bag!

"I had a beautiful card!! I sent it to my friend who is possibly facing foreclosure. Thank you so much,

I think about her a lot and this was just great to send to her.

 
 

love and blessings,

Andrea"

 

Sometimes it is lovely to be wrong

I was so deliciously wrong about how Hilary got the bag (and the contents)from Carol. The real story is so much better. Carol is going to write up her adventures and I will share them with you!

Also, Laurel (http://www.illuminatingsouls.com) shared what she did with her bag:

"I completed my Brown Paper Bag assignment and gifted the funds to the Random Acts of Kindness Project! Thank you for allowing me to play angel with you!"

You can find out more about the Random Acts of Kindness Project at: http://www.spreadkindness.org/

And finally, if you happen to be reading this and are at USM this weekend, find me and I will give you a bag! Or at least make sure you get one soon.