Showing posts with label pay it forward. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pay it forward. Show all posts

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Pay It Forward

Yesterday was Freebie Friday in my Digital Collage Diva shoppe on Etsy. I gave away 17 sheets and even got a few sales. Last evening my brother-in-law commented: "The problem with freebies it that they are viewed as having no value, think about it." His comment has value but as I said to him: "for me it was a win-win because I believe in PIF. And it WAS a great day. Not only did I get to Pay It Forward by giving something to someone without any expectation of monetary reward but I had a chance to make new friends and perhaps even some new customers.

One of my new clients sent this note to me: "Thank you for the free collage sheet! I love your sheets and want to purchase more! I believe in PIF too! What goes around comes around!" Her comment really hit home.

When I was younger I never understood that 'what goes around, comes around'...it wasn't until I was older and understood 'karma' that I got it! I've always tried to be kind to everyone but not everyone is kind no matter what you do for them. And though I'm not vindictive I've seen that 'karma's a b*tch' thing happen even though sometimes it takes a very long time.

Here's a perfect example of what I'm talking about.

Nine years ago one of my husband's best clients (DH was an investment counselor) and a close church friend sued my husband. To do that this man had to be willing to lie about how badly my husband counseled him. Yes this man collected a substantial sum of money from my husband's insurance but the stress was overwhelming for both DH and myself. I was in the middle of my cancer treatments for breast cancer but I got on the phone to beg this friend not to sue us...that it would destroy my husband and I didn't know how I'd get through the rest of chemo with DH so depressed. This friend just laughed it off and I thought I'd 'won' him over. Two months later we got the letter that the suit had gone through. DH lost his license and his spirit was crushed. I was left to struggle through the rest of the cancer treatments without the support I needed.

Nothing happened to my ex-friend during the next few years. Life treated him well; he traveled, bought properties with his sons to 'flip', bought a new house and basically seemed to be living in luxury while we (now both unemployed) struggled to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table.

Eighteen months ago I heard that this old 'friend' had been afflicted by some mysterious illness that had the doctors puzzled. He was treated for various ailments until six months ago they found the root cause of his ailment...pancreatic cancer. I haven't seen him for years and it doesn't please me at all that he is sick but 'karma' or perhaps his own guilty conscience had finally come around all these years later.

Even if I didn't believe in karma or 'what goes around, comes around' I couldn't treat another human being with such blatant cruelty. Especially if it were for personal financial gain. I'm not angelic so yes I do lose my temper once in awhile but never at the expense of someone else.

Perhaps because of breast cancer I'm more at peace with myself and the world around me. I do continue to struggle financially but am working on manifesting a positive financial environment for myself and my family. It's tough to do at times when it seems that 'bad' gets rewarded and while 'good' gets stuck. But if Paying It Forward once in awhile can bring a smile to someone's face while putting a smile on my own I'll continue to do so. It's not making me rich but it truly enriches my life!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

FREE FOR ALL FRIDAY

What do you do when your work isn't selling on Etsy. I guess you could sit down and bemoan your fate or perhaps like me you decide to do a PIF. Pay It Forward is basically what the movie was about. Paying it forward to my Facebook friends and Blog fans by letting everyone have at the 41 listings that I paid 20 cents a piece for ...for FREE. This free for all is Friday from 3pm to 6pm EDT...mark it down.

If shipping was involved I wouldn't be able to afford to do this at the present time. But since these are digital works all I have to do is forward for free a digital file and let the person who 'bought it' enjoy it while getting it out of inventory and adding a positive feedback to my account.


I've noticed that of the 14 sales I've had since I started the Digital Collage Diva, only 10 buyers have chosen to leave feedback. Since I'm so conscious of how important feedback is I'm always sure to immediately leave feedback when the item arrives in my mailbox or inbox. Not everyone is quite as prompt and if I ask them for feedback, many times I get a nasty reply. What's that all about??? I guess we live in a society that is so used to sitting behind a computer screen that the common courtesies of my childhood no longer exist.

That brings me to a quote that I kind of think is profound enough to be repeated here.
"The internet is the first thing that humanity has built that humanity doesn't understand. The largest experiment in anarchy that we have ever had. ~ Eric Schmidt"


There is a lot I have to say about the internet and the facelessness of it all but that will be for another time and blog post. For now, click on the title of this piece, pick out the collage sheet you like and tomorrow from 3pm to 6pm EDT put it in your cart but don't pay for it. I'll send it to you and mark you paid. But remember...the price is A POSITIVE FEEDBACK!