Pay It Forward Giveaway!

Do you know the concept of "Pay It Forward"?

(Also known by the far less catchy names of "Third Party Beneficiary" and "Generalized Reciprocity".)

There's a great movie by the same name which you may have seen (which is based off of a novel).

The idea is that you do something nice for someone. Then, instead of having them pay you back, you ask them to pay it forward to someone else.

In the book/movie, a boy tries to enact this plan in threes. He helps three people, then they each help three people, and so forth. It's his way of changing the world. It really is a delightful concept.

ETA: It's a great movie. If you're going to watch it, you will want a box of tissues nearby.

Well, I am proud to be participating in a chain of events in that vein.
How?
With a Pay It Forward giveaway!

I was recently a winner of such a contest, and received a delightful package from Carrie Lea.

(My package contained a picture postcard, Post-It tags that say "Look/Like/Love", a Cubbies candy bar, pretty magnets, lip gloss, and Wrigley's Spearmint gum)

Neat, huh?

This Pay It Forward Giveaway seems to have been going for awhile now. You can trace the chain of events through blogs a little bit...

- Carrie Lea in the City
- *hello darling!
- Jen on the Edge
- Flutterby me Garden
- Bunny Bunster the Queen of Medium Maintenance
- Bits and Odd Pieces of Mindy's Kingdom
- frogblog

That's as far back as I could get (couldn't find a post about it on frogblog), and it took a good amount of searching to get that far!

Anyway. I am now paying it forward as well.

If you would like to be entered in the Pay It Forward Giveaway, all you have to do is respond to this post. I will draw screen-names out of a hat (yes, literally... I own a great hat for this sort of thing), and then I will post the winners at a later date so that I can get their contact information and figure out how to send them things.

ETA: There will be THREE winners!!! (I can't believe I forgot to mention that!)

I won't tell you what you'll win (mostly because I'm not sure yet), but I promise it will be delightful. And it will most definitely include a mix CD homemade by yours truly (and I know you love my taste in music).

And remember, if you win this contest, you don't just win prizes. You win the opportunity to pay on a good deed to three other people. And really, that's the thing I was most excited about when I won.

But if you don't win, don't let that stop you! Create your own, not-connected branch of Pay-It-Forward. A little karma goes a long way, baby.

So yes. I think I'll collect the entries in a week or so. Don't forget to comment on this post in order to enter!!! (Don't be shy, boys! I won't send you lip gloss. Scout's honor!)


May you let people pay it forward instead of paying you back,

~A~


P.S. "I really just want you to know how much I appreciate you and love you." Brian wrote that on my Facebook wall today. Out of nowhere. *sigh* He's pretty great.