“No one has ever become poor by giving.”

Wise words from a very young girl. Anne Frank had it so right – there is nothing more enriching and more uplifting than giving. I felt it today when I had a bad day that started with bucketing rain, then had me apologizing to a client for professional mistakes, and despite a sudden change in weather continued when I missed my bus by a hair’s breadth and subsequently did not make it to my son’s awards ceremony. Even the present that I received yesterday when meeting the wonderful Linnetmoss could not console me even though it did make me chuckle. I can’t wait to show you, but I’ll give her precedence. I needed to uplift myself, and I remembered Anne Frank’s words, and knew what I had to do…

With the badge project (run #1) over and all badges distributed, all that was left to do was to donate the money that had been contributed to the scheme. The perfect feel-good activity. So I can now announce that we have donated a respectable sum to Young Minds UK via Richard’s Just Giving page. (If you click on the link, you can see your donation in its new natural habitat.)

donationPlease all pat yourselves on the back! You have been incredibly generous, and your kindly given money can now make a real difference for a very good cause. 250 Euro convert to 318 $ or 196 £.  Personally, I think it was worth every Penny and Cent.

You may also pat yourselves on the back for having chosen to be open for meeting new people. That, I believe, is another way of giving that will never make you poor but always enrich your life. Speaking for myself, I have met wonderful people through this fandom – on my blog, via e-mail, on tumblr, and in RL at events. Too many to mention, really. There has not been a single unpleasant encounter among the many contacts I have made, so I look forward to wearing my badge in December with excited anticipation. In fact, the badge has already worked for me – through the organisation of the project, I have come in contact with new fellow sisters-in-RA. Happy days!

My day has instantly become better. There. Never mind deRAnged or distRActed. It’s proof that Richarding makes happy. Thank you!

badges in situ

150 thoughts on ““No one has ever become poor by giving.”

  1. Ah, that’s great. I wonder what he will conclude if he reads the comment on the just giving page!

    Glad your day has improved and I hope you have a wonderful evening to make up for it! 🙂

    Like

    • *hehe*, is there anything to conclude from that message except that he is deemed inspiring and we wish him well 🙂 ? I doubt he is interested enough to google “badge fans armitage” 😀
      My day is really nice now. I am going to dinner in my favourite French restaurant tonight, and the prospect of moules frites has me instantly ecstatic. (Yes, I am easily distRActed. But you knew that :-D)

      Liked by 1 person

    • Great. I hope that one day we will wear the badge together, again 😀
      As for missing the event – very very bad mother, and feeling very very guilty. I actually took a picture of the bus stop and sent it to my son to prove I had made the effort and that it hadn’t been for want of goodwill… He’ll survive – it was only a language diploma thingie.

      Like

  2. G- I think that is tremendous!! Over $300 USD- Go RA Badg-ers! (My inner Wolverine coming out 😉
    I’m so glad this rescued your day- thanks again for making it all possible 🙂

    Like

        • Ohhhhhhhh, now I get it. It was an American sports reference. Baseball or Football? (Sorry, I hope that hasn’t been a majorly offensive question *ggg*. Remember – I am an innocent European :-D) When I read “Wolverine” I immediately thought of Hugh Jackman…

          Liked by 1 person

          • mostly football, but also could be basketball…Michigan and Wisconsin are in the same collegiate conference so they are rivals across sports 🙂

            Looking below though, I might have read too much in…not the first time today!! (eep)

            Like

            • I really did laugh out loud,Obscura!!
              Where I live, most are the polar opposite of Michigan fans & wild as Bucks (I’m sure you’ve got it 😀 ….
              Doesn’t especially describe me (I’m sort of a “fair weather” Bearcat fan – my alma mater,
              meaning zero interest now that Brian Kelly’s gone to ND 🙂
              My DH is a MASSIVE GA football fan, so I’ve learned to follow the SEC in sheer self-defense! lol
              Wisconsin always puts up a good football team, you have no shame there 🙂
              So Guylty – don’t feel bad, you were actually pretty close to right!

              Liked by 1 person

              • LOL! I’m pure Wisconsite – I bleed Green & Gold from my veins and Red & White from the arteries 🙂 We like to keep it in the Big Ten in our house, but hubby’s Nittany Lions are definitely underdogs regardless of their record…Now if Wisconsin could just stop choking in the Rose Bowl.

                How’s that for some exotic college football talk Guytly?! 😀

                Liked by 1 person

              • Ach, that’s a recurring theme in the NCAA…. the Bulldogs have that habit of choking in big games too. It’s very aggravating (and decibel-creating too, for some people I know 😛

                Liked by 1 person

  3. Hmmm, I was thinking wolverines and badgers were the same animal
    (unless any better-informed nature lovers have more information)
    but I actually think they aren’t ….. so my attempted pun didn’t work, never mind! 😛

    (I hated missing stuff for my son too, half the time I would tell HIM I couldn’t go,
    but tell work I WAS-so he wouldn’t be disappointed if the you-know-what hit the fan & screwed me up.
    Still hated it though. Glad it wasn’t too huge a thing for him this time.)

    Like

  4. This is so nice! Thank you for all the work (both the creative and the finger bending one in printing and sending all these lovely envelopes 🙂 I’m so happy this will benefit from our fun ideas 🙂 Great feeling for this oh so rainy day here too!
    And here is something that i really hope will make you smile too!

    The start of my very own shrine 🙂 Magnetic bookmark on the left and your utterly gorgeous photo, properly dressed up ;-)) on the right 🙂
    <3! and thousand thanks! (hope the kid will forgive, bribe with nice food and cinema ticket or such may work 😉 ) enjoy the restaurant!

    Liked by 3 people

    • Oh my, that looks gorgeous, Hariclea! Love the frame you have chosen there (btw – I can seeeeeeee you 😉 ) and I have to say I am all vain artist here, quite chuffed and proud to think *my* work is being displayed somewhere… and then I remember that is not my photo but the man in it. LOL.

      Liked by 2 people

  5. You’re so right, giving makes you feel much better in a grey day. 🙂

    Oooohhhh, lucky Hibernia, both of you together! Thrillions of hugs and kisses to Linnet and to you. 🙂

    I don’t think I will meet any well wisher thanks to the badge (who knows anyway? 🙂 ). In the meantime I’m testing it in everything I wear… today I’m also mixing “crushes”. Here it is the badge pinned in my Hadrian’s Wall hoodie 😀

    http://goo.gl/tQgvAa

    Liked by 1 person

    • As an ex-historian Guylty fully approves of this use of the badge. Fabulous!!! Looks really good on dark backgrounds, anyway.
      I might try and meet Linnet again on Saturday… time, weather and visitors permitting 😀 It was lovely to meet her in person. We had a lovely time taking tea in Dublin’s top hotel. (I was completely out of place, of course…)

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Wow, what a great success in every respect. You made a lot of well wishers happy sending them a badge: I´ll definitley wear my own when it comes to the BOFA premiere, maybe earlier, just checking the terrain 🙂
    And what a great donation it is, I suppose Mr. A will be curious to check out where it belongs to…
    And how stupid I am, yes, we need the definite *ooof* of the Berlin pic, I was there and drool over it most of the time, so, please, do it, you´re the loveliest photographer in the world.
    Enjoy the evening in your favourite French restaurant .

    Like

  7. Sorry you had such a rotten day! Glad you went right on Richarding and found yourself uplifted. Funny how that works! It’s awesome that Richarding involves more than just swooning over hot photos (although that happens a lot), surfing the web and watching the screen… interacting with fellow well-wishers and participating in charities are at least half the fun. =)

    Liked by 1 person

    • Ah LOL – “badgelorette”, what a wonderful coinage! Well done, cRAmerry – you can pun professionally in two languages!!!
      And yes, after making the donation the day miraculously picked up. My in-laws came in for tea and we had a lovely chat. My son was not disappointed that I had missed his awards ceremony. And dinner in the French restaurant was superb. Plus, after being away from the internet for half the day, I get the gift of many images now upon my return. The day turned out to pretty nice.

      Liked by 5 people

  8. Für Dein schlechtes Gewissen bei Deinem Sohn kann ich leider nichts tun. Aber mit diesen badges hast Du uns allen so eine große Freude gemacht, wenn das nur ein kleines bißchen auf Dich abfärbt müsste Deine Laune eigentlich permanent auf Sonnenschein stehen. Es war toll, den Entstehungsprozess “mitzuerleben” und ich trage das kleine Ding mit soviel Stolz und Spaß, soviel Freude hat mir schon lange nichts mehr gemacht. Ich schaue auch tausendmal ob ich ihn auch ja nicht verloren habe, so wertvoll ist er für mich geworden. Auch wenn ich mich wiederhole, Du hattest eine wunderbare Idee! ❤
    Der Knaller wäre natürlich ein tatsächliches Treffen wo alle 100 Damen mit ihrem badge anwesend sind…….. 😉

    Liked by 2 people

    • What a nice idea – Suzy is suggesting wouldn’t it be nice if all of the badge wearing ladies were to meet. Indeed. (Although innocent onlookers might get scared *ggg*)
      And I am more than glad if the badge makes you feel happy 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

  9. So glad the rotten day turned around for you. You never pat yourself on the back, so I will do it for you. If not for you and the badge project, the charity would not have received such a generous gift. Well done, we get great RA love tokens, and his charity gets some bucks. It’s a win- win, as we say in the states.
    (And possibly elsewhere.) And I have to add, I have never seen the “freaking” badge. Quite fetching, and rather large, as the man is himself.

    Liked by 3 people

    • You are so sweet, Kathy. Big bear hug, please 🙂 Well, the donation was a gift from all of us, and is testament to the goodwill and spirit of care that I can see in this community. Win-win for us as well, I think.
      The “freaking” badge was made by Mimi and she sent it to me as a pressie a while ago, attached to a lanyard with other goodies. I must confess I quite like that picture, especially when photographed from this angle. Face looks slightly different…

      Like

  10. As with movie/DVD releases, we will probably be weeks behind the rest of the world *sigh*. I’m pretty sure I will have to travel to Melbourne to see it. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for the download option.

    Like

    • Well, I’ll join you on my little island when it comes to waiting for release… Haven’t seen anything announced here, either. I’d imagine the download option will be there for all, though.

      Like

    • And I haven’t seen any screening dates for it in the U.S. yet either…. which surprises me a little. Not that buying it from Digital Theatre isn’t AWESOME! but I’d still love to see it on the big screen too! Seems like it might have a different vibe than at home….

      Like

  11. Mezz just let me know about this wonderful project. (I must live on another planet … on the other side anyway). Sorry I didn’t hear of it earlier. Congratulations – what a fantastic gift to Young Minds (esp as it is World Mental Health Day – 10th Oct) 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Pingback: Annual Review | GUYLTY PLEASURE

  13. Pingback: Passing on Thanks | Guylty Pleasure

Leave a reply to Hariclea Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.