Today I'm celebrating the first year anniversary of HumanKind Media. In the blogging world, HumanKind is just an infant. Hard to believe so much can happen in a year, though. The prospect of many more years of telling stories about people who are creating possibilities for healing the world is exciting and daunting when I look back over what's happened from this little blogging venture in just a year.
Liz and I started with this post and plea for help ending poverty, and within weeks we had many donations to Malaria No More and had found our matching donor, a mosquito abatement philanthropist from Kansas City who went beyond matching our donations from readers (we still love you, Paul). If you want to help me celebrate, buy a net to help end poverty.
After about 6 months, and our appearance as a TypePad Featured site, Liz, who had propped me up at the beginning, gently sent me off on my own so she could pursue her writing career and her life (but has promised to return once in awhile for a post or two).
Though it's been a whole year, it feels like I'm just getting started. The word for this next year is COLLABORATE. HumanKind media is one of many Changebloggers, blogs about social change (healing the world), and we can hope to see lots of new ideas, collaborations, and hopefully guest writers from some of our favorite old friends and new old friends in the coming year. Good news for good media.
Also, I hope you, wonderful readers, will help by forwarding cool links and articles you find, giving a heads-up on people you know who are starting out with new projects, or just sharing the possibilities you've uncovered or are wondering about. And, if you or someone you know would like to try their hand at writing some HumanKind Media blogs, I'd love to add some new voices. Help me fill year #2 with amazing media for possibility.
For today's post I thought I'd make a "favorites" list, but the truth is I couldn't decide amongst all the people we talked to, videos we found, or amazing organizations who astonished us. As I've wound my way through the world of ending poverty, the connection between helping women and ending poverty, peace and connection, creating a sustainable future, and the possibilities for media contributing to change, I have met some of the most amazing, creative people (see the partial "amazing" blog scroll here) I could ever imagine.
I have noticed over the years that when a client takes on an issue or a project in their lives, though they usually think they're working on it, often, it's working on them. HumanKind Media, my little project to change the media to change the world, has been working on me. I have changed my priorities, my understanding of what's important to me, my habits, my appreciation for the difficulties that people face when they take a stand or a step, and a realization of the rewards that come from working on something you care about and giving what you can.
I am not where I was when I started by any measure, and I hope, if you're a regular reader, you've also discovered that changing your media diet, even just a little, changes how you see yourself and the world.
Here's to more years and more possibilities! Thanks for reading! Sorry for giving you a rerun, but Matt best explains how I feel today. Seriously, take a few minutes on me, even if you watched it before--it just gets better the more you view it. Celebrate with me!
Congratulations! A milestone worth celebrating...
And, because I can't find a more ideal place to ask you this, I post it here... I have a personal philanthropy goal I am DETERMINED to see through and wonder if you might visit my site and read the click on the ChipIn link to read about it, respond, or pass the word on. Would you, please?
I really just need to spread the word... much as you post about doing on your blog... paying things forward and connecting with other people who might be able to help, even if in small ways.
Thanks so much for this blog. It's really very heartwarming. :)
Posted by: Ali | September 04, 2008 at 08:25 AM