On being good
November 17th, 2009 § 6 Comments
The other night, during a restless night of sleeplesness and phleminess from a cold, I got a brilliant idea. Usually in the light of day these brilliant ideas turn out to be sleep deprived hallucinations that burn away under the rays of sunshine and cold hard rational thought. The next morning I discussed the brilliant idea with friends and family and it seemed I hit upon something worthwhile.
The brilliant idea was a merging of two trains of thought. The first was from watching Jay Leno’s segment Items Sold in Ebay where he presents strange things that were listed on ebay and the audience guesses whether they sold or not. One of these items was someone selling their Team Spirit which involved baracking for a team of the winning bidders choice, attending games, buying merchandise etc. This item was listed for $100 and sold for $10,100. As Jay said this proved there was still too much money in their country, but it also made me realise that amazing potential of ebay where there is a market for everything.
The second train of thought was being good. I don’t think I’m a bad person, but I don’t feel like I do anything particularly good either. Lately I’ve been in a funk, feeling uninspired and unmotivated. I’ve been thinking about different strategies to get myself out of it and some of the thoughts I’ve been having are about doing something new.
I was a guest of honour at a Year 12 Awards night. The teacher conducting the night spoke about the graduants being good citizens and contributing positively to their community. I used to do volunteer work in a breakfast club for kids in the high rises, and later as a mentor to teenagers at risk of leaving school. But now that I’m a mother volunteering in this capacity is not an option, so I’ve hit upon a solution that will provide me with the opportunity to do something new, as well as contribute to others. I’m going to offer my services critiquing a novel on ebay with proceeds to be donated to charity. So if you’re interested in getting your novel critiqued by a published author, look at my listing here.
The Indigenous Literacy Project is indeed a good one to support, in whichever capacity you feel capable to do it in.
Love the word “graduants” as opposed to the American word “alumni”. “Alumni” status is something you grow into/become, especially as you do something philantrophic for your (old) school.
I didn’t realise that distinction. I just thought alumni was what you were after you graduated.
This is probably how it’s used in Britain (where you are called an Old Girl or Boy, especially if you went to a minor or major public school) or Australia.
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Very cool idea. Best of luck.
Thanks Jamie. Fingers crossed there is at least one bid.