A to Z Challenge: B(e) Kind 366 - Q is for Quarters

B(e) Kind 366 has been in the making for a few years now. Every day in 2016 I am doing an act of kindness (random or otherwise), taking on monthly challenges (like blogging A-Z), and raising funds for three organizations that have impacted my life.

Last year I sorted my lengthy list of potential acts of kindness that I had been compiling for a couple of years into alphabetical lists and blogged them A-Z! Here is last year's Q list: Random Acts of Kindness beginning with "Q."

I did two things with quarters today:
1. I gave a man all of the change (which included a few quarters) from my wallet on my way to work this morning.
2. I put two quarters in my coworker's expired parking meter to buy her a little extra time!

G is for Giveaway on A-Z with B (that's me). Be sure to stop by and enter!

A to Z Challenge: B(e) Kind 366 - K is for Keepsake and Klinic

If you haven't been visiting my blog since the start of A-Z you'll have no clue what B(e) Kind 366 is. Since it's more likely than not that you haven't been with me from the start, I'll explain B(e) Kind 366 and the reasoning behind my posts. B(e) Kind 366 is a year long initiative that I created and have been planning for a few years now. Every day in 2016 I am performing an act of kindness (random or otherwise). I'm also taking on monthly challenges (like blogging A-Z) and raising funds for three organizations that are very dear to me. To visit my fundraising website click here: B(e) Kind 366.

In 2015 I blogged A-Z with lists of potential acts of kindness. If you're interested here's the K list from last year: Random Acts of Kindness beginning with "K."

So, today's act of kindness, brought to us by the letter K, is two-fold.

One act is really for myself. At least five years ago my sister bought me the perfect wallet. I loved it and I still love it. But it's fallen apart. I transferred all of my things over to a new wallet today, but I just can't stand to part with the messages that the old one was adorned with. For me and as a statement to the importance of my relationship with my sister, I took the wallet apart and I'm going to frame the material as a keepsake for myself.

I'm using "Klinic" for the second act because Klinic is the name of a community health organization that has one of the important crisis phone numbers that I put in my cell phone today as well as onto my course outline for my class this coming fall. Klinic has the only sexual assault crisis phone line in the province of Manitoba. In addition to Klinic's 24-hour sexual assault crisis line I added the province's Domestic Violence Crisis Line, Adult Crisis Line, Youth Crisis Line, City Police, and Campus Security to my cell phone and to my course outlines for this fall. When it comes time to hand out my outlines in the fall, I plan to ask my students to take out their phones and input the numbers right then and there. If having these numbers in my own phone and them having the numbers in their phones makes a difference for one person, it's definitely worth it!

And in case you're new to my blog - I have a giveaway that's super easy to enter on G post this year!

A to Z Challenge: B(e) Kind 366 - J is for Journal

My B(e) Kind 366 act for today is one that I've loved ever since I stumbled across it. I left this kindness journal in the library at the university where I teach in the hopes that someone will find it and pass it along to keep the kindness going!

Last year I blogged A-Z with lists of potential acts of kindness for each letter. Here's last year's J list: Random Acts of Kindness beginning with "J." Every day in 2016 I'm doing an act of kindness (random or otherwise) and raising funds for three incredible organizations. It's my hope that blogging about this project will encourage others to join the effort in some small (or large) way!

Don't forget to stop by G is for Giveaway and enter to WIN!

A to Z Challenge: B(e) Kind 366 - H is for Hundredth Day and Happy Pills

This year my A-Z posts are all about B(e) Kind 366 - a year long initiative I've created where I perform an act of kindness (random or otherwise) every day in 2016. In 2015 my A-Z blog posts led up to B(e) Kind 366 with lists of potential acts beginning with each letter. Here's last year's H List: Random Acts of Kindness beginning with "H."

Today happens to be Day 100 of B(e) Kind 366 and I marked today's milestones with an act that I've been wanting to do for a while: Happy Pills!

Of course I had to be careful who I gave these too. It couldn't really be anyone random; after all, "Happy Pills" could be construed as any number of things! One of my colleagues will be the happy recipient of these pills! I took my dogs for a nice long walk and left these on her door step.

Happy Hundredth Day!

Stop by my G is for Giveaway post this year and enter to win a Blind Date with a Book!

A to Z Challenge: B(e) Kind 366 - A is for Ally, Activist, & Advocate

For the 2015 A-Z Challenge I posted Random Acts of Kindness ideas for each letter as a lead up to 2016 and the launch of B(e) Kind 366! Now it's 2016 and I've been B(e)ing kind for 92 days now! For A-Z 2016 my plan is take one idea from my alphabetized lists, perform that act, and then blog about it! Fun, right?!

With that said, here's the link to my A List from last year: Random Acts of Kindness beginning with "A". 

My chosen act for "A" is Ally and I'm adding Activist and Advocate as well. 

Yesterday, March 31st was the International Transgender Day of Visibility. This date is recognized as a day dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of the discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide. Admittedly, yesterday came and went and I didn't promote #TDOV, but I remembered today. I posted the following video on my facebook page today and try to take steps on a regular basis to do exactly what this video asks allies to do: be an activist ally not an armchair ally! As a cisgendered woman it's important that I recognize and use my privilege to advocate along side folks that don't find life quite as simple as I do. 

I've taken LGBTTQ* awareness and support training and really do try as much as I can to make an active effort to refrain from using gendered language. It's difficult; it really is! If you'd like to see how difficult try telling someone what your weekend plans are without using any gendered terminology: she, he, mom, dad, sister, brother, wife, husband, etc.  

I'll close with this infographic and hope that you'll consider becoming an activist ally/advocate too!

A-Z Challenge: Random Acts of Kindness beginning with "I"

Throughout the A-Z Challenge I'll be blogging through the alphabet using each letter to create a list of Random Acts of Kindness. I've been collecting RAK ideas for some time now as I gear up to the 2016 launch of a project dear to my heart: B(e) Kind 366. I'll be performing an act of kindness every day of the leap year starting January 1st, 2016 while raising funds for World University Service of Canada (WUSC), an organisation that changed my life.

I'm starting each post with a synonym (of sorts) for kindness. I added this part to my posts because of an amazing movement I am a part of 1000 Voices Speak for Compassion. We link up monthly and blog about changing the world for the better. It's magical really. We're even on Twitter! @1000Speak

I is for Inclusive

Include - someone new in a group activity. 

Ice cream - buy someone some, make some, enjoy some! Give someone an ice cream kit! 

Inspiration - leave signs on km markers of a walking trail, on lockers at the gym, put post-its in public places. 

Instagram - tag people in positive image posts, post selfies while holding signs that advocate for a cause. 

Invest - in your own future (start an RRSP, buy a savings bond), in a child's (start an RESP).

Invite - people over and be their host, someone to breakfast/lunch/supper and pay for their meal, someone to an event and buy their ticket. 

That's it for my "I" List! The more Random Acts of Kindness ideas the better, so please add to my list by leaving suggestions in the comments!

Want to win some Jane Austen swag?! Who doesn't?! Check out my super fun "If Jane Austen Blogged A-Z" post and test your Janeite knowledge!

I'm Officially a RAKtivist!

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation

I've been doing random acts of kindness for years. I did a 100-Day Challenge, I completed 29 RAKs for my 29th birthday on January 29, and in 2016 I'm launching B(e) Kind 366  - one RAK a day every day of the year. Ever since I started doing RAKs I've been following The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation on Facebook and Twitter. At the beginning of this week I noticed that the Foundation was taking applications for RAKtivists. In the lead up to the launch of B(e) Kind 366, this opportunity was just perfect timing. The application was short and straightforward and within one day of submitting it, I received a response letting me know I was officially in! I'm a RAKtivist! I strongly urge you to think about becoming one too. Really and truly and once you do, here's the application: Become a RAKtivist™ today!

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation also has a Pinterest and YouTube page filled with pretty much unlimited kindness ideas. The Kindness Ideas page of the Foundation website supplies kindness ideas in the categories of Environment, Animals, Community, Work, Family, School, Sports, Just for Me, and Everyday Kindness. The acts can be sorted by expense and time investment. As a RAKtivist I take part in a weekly challenge with hundreds of fellow RAKtivists. I can't wait to turn my RAKtivism and the ideas and inspiration from The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation into a big part of B(e) Kind 366!