Closed. The boat sank, the sharks won.

Making A Difference that is…. I may well be certifiable under patriarchal psychiatry but that’s a whole other thing…

That’s a double bed, covered in scarves, 32 of them in all colours, various designs and ALL donated to be gifted to Women in Refuge across the UK this Christmas. I’ve been coordinating this since August. 100 Women will be opening an anonymous gift and I hope we can bring a smile and some warmth to their lives.

Those are the 32 I’ve had sent here, I’ve wrapped them and will be arranging post/delivery in the next week or so. But so many women have jumped on board with this that between us we are gifting over 100 women in 7 Refuges - and the children in at least two of those locations too.

Today I’ve been asked, "So what shall we do for Easter then?" I’ll have to think of something that can be knitted or crocheted as the women helping out here are all crafty types and all knit or crochet, but not until after Christmas.

This is an idea that I saw somewhere, have used in the past and will no doubt use again.

This is a Pay it Forward.

The idea is to Forward an Act of Random Kindness to someone without any reason for it, and expecting nothing in return.

My Pay it Forward is that I will send a small home made gift to the first three people to comment here and let me have a postal address to send it to. Now, these things won’t be sent out before Christmas, I know they won’t because I’m stupidly busy during November and then there’s no time to actually make them. So your gift will arrive sometime in January.

To take part you need to comment here, let me know where to send my gift and post a similar offer on your own blog. It doesn’t have to be home made - that’s just what I’ve chosen to do - it can be anything you like. I know of people who have promised a bar of chocolate or a postcard, or a book - anything you choose is ok, but give a rough idea of what you’re offering and how many as well.

So, who’s first?

BBC - Today

A respected middle-aged art historian at one of Paris’s most illustrious museums, Agnès Humbert was an unlikely candidate for Resistance heroism. But amid the chaos and bitter ignominy of defeat her soul rebelled.

She leafleted, she stickered and she did what she could and she encouraged others to do the same. She fought the Nazi war machine with everything she had and then, when captured, she was forced to work for it instead.

But did she hate the German people? No, after the war ended she changed her direction again but carried on in the same vein. 

Agnès threw off her shackles to set up first-aid posts and soup kitchens for the armies of the dispossessed - including, at her express insistence, German civilians…..

…..arguing stoutly that indiscriminate persecution of the Germans would only encourage the rise of ‘another Hitler’.

Agnes believed in people as individuals. Although the masses can be swept along in politics and in fear, each person is an individual and should be valued as such. A individual that is part of a group should not be simply dismissed or labelled simply because of the actions of the group.

We do it all the time don’t we?  "You are a member of X Group, therefore you are bad/undesirable and I am unwilling to look at you/get to know you" It’s a generic but we all do it. We classify individuals by the groups they appear to belong to - even when that group membership is unproven. We see someone associating with a group, or a member of a group and we just lump them all in together, completely disregarding the individual. "Oh, you’ve commented on X’s blog therefore you must be her friend and have the same beliefs as her." It may be true but it may not and if we fail to engage with the individual then how will we ever know? If we can’t reach out and keep communications open then are we not alienating? If we can’t recognise and connect with the simple humanity of an individual, regardless of their difference from ourselves, then how can we call ourselves human?

Agnes Humbert’s memoirs, translated by Barbara Mellor, are published as Resistance: Memoirs of Occupied France by Bloomsbury.  

Acts of Random Kindness.

Bear with me. This is the boat blog, we need a BIGGER boat right? In our fight against the patriarchal shark. And the biggest boat of all is the Ark?

So, blatantly borrowed from Morgan Freeman in Evan Almighty, the ARK is made of Acts of Random Kindness. (I know, it’s a biblical film but it’s funny, we enjoyed it and the message goes so far beyond religious boundaries)

God: How do we change the world?
Evan Baxter: One single Act of Random Kindness at a time. 

Who’s up for changing the world?

Every year for the last three years I have sent Christmas gifts to women I will never meet. A parcel of gifts goes to a refuge in the UK managed by a very good friend of mine. This year another friend is joining in and we’re hoping to extend what we do to another refuge - more gifts to women we will never meet. They will never know who the gifts come from but at a time when they are at their lowest ebb, we can bring a smile and show that someone out there cares.

What will you do today? What Act of Random Kindness can you offer?