PIF – Pay It Forward

There are a lot of things I learned from my father that (sadly) I never paid heed to till after his passing. He used to say “if you are feeling sad (negative energy), go and make something with your hands (creating being positive energy) and if that doesn’t work, do something nice for someone else”. His reasoning is that creativity puts the mind/thoughts in a positive place thus changing the negative energy one is vibrating on, to a positive one. Or the effort it’ll take for you to think of and therefore do something nice for someone else, shifts the energy from negative to positive. I have found that to be very true, which is why I am perpetually creating.

Years ago, I created a section in my Etsy Store that I called PIF which stood for Pay It Forward, I wanted to find a way to continually do something nice for someone else without having to consciously plan it first, hoping that having something on a rolling basis in place, will ensure a continuation  of positive energy production (if that makes sense). I listed items that buyers can get for free, with a catch; that they in turn give something away to someone else. That section in my shop didn’t last, as the one person that decided to take advantage of the offer broke the first rule – Don’t take more than one free item at a time; leave something for the next person. She asked for two items. I figured since she was the first, I’d let that slide. I packed the items for her (a pair of earrings and a silver charm bracelet), nicely wrapped it as a gift, with a Thank You note and a reminder that she in turn does something nice for someone else.

I was living in Italy at the time and the postal service then was unreliable, so I knew that delivery to her would take longer than she was used to, she lived in the USA. I sent her an email and explained that, and asked her to allow at least 2 to 3 weeks. She replied, thanked me and told me how excited she was. 5 days after the package was sent (after the communication to make room for delay) she wrote me a 1 star negative review saying she didn’t receive the items, was highly disappointed with my service blah, blah, blah. To say I was shocked was an understatement – A negative review for giving away something for free???

There was nothing I could do to reverse the bad review as reviews on Etsy at the time were final and those were my very first bad reviews for giving things FREE!! It kind of gave new meaning to ‘no good deed goes unpunished’. That was the last PIF I ever offered.

Lately I have been looking into ways to incorporate my father’s advice about combating sadness (because I have had an influx of sadness plaguing me a lot lately, and sometimes, unbearably so too).  I have been creating, which has been fun for the most part, but it occurred to me that everything I have been creating thus far, is only piling up in my studio with my inventory, so I am opening up shop for PIF again, I mean, I can’t let one ill mannered ingrate (yes, I call her that!) spoil it for someone out there needing a shift in energy. So if you need a cheer-me-up or know anyone that might, follow or share this LINK with them. Let’s keep the positive energy rolling.

P.S. Giving is not always material. A phone call, a letter, a card, a prayer, a kind gesture of any kind extended from you to someone else IS GIVING. Here is some food for though.

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