Paying It Forward

• • 22 Comments

Having seen the Paying It Forward idea on Artist, Emerging, I immediately wanted to join in, so I headed over to the people Deanna was making things for and was delighted to discover that Kaija from Paperiaarre still had one space. So I'm her third person and I consider myself very lucky because wow, just look at the gorgeous books she makes!

Kaija

Kaija

I've done a little bit of very simple book binding and it's a lot of fun but I've certainly not made any as luscious as this. She also makes very beautiful handmade brooches.

Anyway, it's now my turn to pass it on.

Pay It Forward (via Kaija, via Deanna, via Mrs Eliot and so on)*

Here are the rules:

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Pretty straightforward huh, I agree to make and send something to the first three people to comment, who then make things for their first three commenters and so on. OK, have at it, people...

EDIT: Even though it looks like I've got three responders, one of them is my partner and he doesn't actually want to take part - he was just responding to the question of who came up with the term 'paying it forward' - so, there's still one spot available.

* I've tried to find out who originally started this idea but haven't been able to follow the thread of connections back far enough. Does anyone know who should get the credit?

22 thoughts on “Paying It Forward”

  3. Oh you'll love this... it seems the phrase was coined by Heinlein:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_it_forward
    "Pay it forward or paying it forward refers to repaying the good deeds one has received by doing good things for other unrelated people.

    Many people mistakenly believe the phrase "pay it forward" as a moral philosophy first appeared in Catherine Ryan Hyde's novel Pay It Forward, which in 2000 was adapted into a Warner Brothers film, Pay It Forward. Science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein, however, used the phrase in Between Planets, a book published in 1951, almost 50 years before Ryan Hyde's novel.

    Heinlein both preached and practiced this philosophy; now the Heinlein Society, a humanitarian organization founded in his name, does so.

    One of the most vocal popularizers of the concept of paying it forward -- before Hyde's book and movie -- is probably author Spider Robinson, who made repeated reference to the doctrine, attributing it to his spiritual mentor Heinlein.

    In Ryan Hyde's book and movie it is described as an obligation to do three good deeds for others in repayment of a good deed that one receives. Such good deeds should be things that the other person cannot accomplish on their own. In this way, the need to help one another can spread exponentially through society, creating a social movement with the goal of making the world a better place.

    In practice the philosophy of pay it forward has broadened relative to its literary roots, and now stands for a more general social responsibility and desire to help others in recognition of the help one has received for one's self. It is also sometimes described as being "good for a favor", meaning a willingness to help others (even strangers) on the expectation that it will all come back around in the end."

    I don't know how the meme got to crafters though!

    Reply ↓

  4. Oh you'll love this... it seems the phrase was coined by Heinlein:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_it_forward
    "Pay it forward or paying it forward refers to repaying the good deeds one has received by doing good things for other unrelated people.

    Many people mistakenly believe the phrase "pay it forward" as a moral philosophy first appeared in Catherine Ryan Hyde's novel Pay It Forward, which in 2000 was adapted into a Warner Brothers film, Pay It Forward. Science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein, however, used the phrase in Between Planets, a book published in 1951, almost 50 years before Ryan Hyde's novel.

    Heinlein both preached and practiced this philosophy; now the Heinlein Society, a humanitarian organization founded in his name, does so.

    One of the most vocal popularizers of the concept of paying it forward -- before Hyde's book and movie -- is probably author Spider Robinson, who made repeated reference to the doctrine, attributing it to his spiritual mentor Heinlein.

    In Ryan Hyde's book and movie it is described as an obligation to do three good deeds for others in repayment of a good deed that one receives. Such good deeds should be things that the other person cannot accomplish on their own. In this way, the need to help one another can spread exponentially through society, creating a social movement with the goal of making the world a better place.

    In practice the philosophy of pay it forward has broadened relative to its literary roots, and now stands for a more general social responsibility and desire to help others in recognition of the help one has received for one's self. It is also sometimes described as being "good for a favor", meaning a willingness to help others (even strangers) on the expectation that it will all come back around in the end."

    I don't know how the meme got to crafters though!

    Reply ↓

  5. I'd love to join in too. :) And it's something to blog about!

    One place I see PIF is on Etsy.com - there it's used as a wonderful tool by members to help new sellers start on the selling ladder. Different makers have PIF items in their stores that they can 'sell' to start finding new collectors, just get a few notches on their Etsy belt, and then pass on the experience to another Etsian. It's a very community approach.

    Reply ↓

  6. I'd love to join in too. :) And it's something to blog about!

    One place I see PIF is on Etsy.com - there it's used as a wonderful tool by members to help new sellers start on the selling ladder. Different makers have PIF items in their stores that they can 'sell' to start finding new collectors, just get a few notches on their Etsy belt, and then pass on the experience to another Etsian. It's a very community approach.

    Reply ↓

  7. Cat Vincent wrote:

    "I don’t know how the meme got to crafters though!"

    It doesn't surprise me actually, there's a fairly big crafting/SF fandom crossover. Thanks for all the information, honey, I'd no idea that Heinlein came up with the phrase although I suppose the concept itself is fairly closely related to things like Buddhist idea of karma.

    Reply ↓

  8. Post author

    Cat Vincent wrote:

    "I don’t know how the meme got to crafters though!"

    It doesn't surprise me actually, there's a fairly big crafting/SF fandom crossover. Thanks for all the information, honey, I'd no idea that Heinlein came up with the phrase although I suppose the concept itself is fairly closely related to things like Buddhist idea of karma.

    Reply ↓

  11. All this publicity is making me all giddy and excited! Thank you for your kind words, Kirsty. And I'm happy to see that that via thing is up to date. In my post I just left it the way it was, because nobody had changed it for a while. I too tried to follow the thread, but once it turned into Czech or some other language, I gave up.

    I got your address, and I hope I'll be mailing you something within the next couple of weeks.

    Reply ↓

  12. All this publicity is making me all giddy and excited! Thank you for your kind words, Kirsty. And I'm happy to see that that via thing is up to date. In my post I just left it the way it was, because nobody had changed it for a while. I too tried to follow the thread, but once it turned into Czech or some other language, I gave up.

    I got your address, and I hope I'll be mailing you something within the next couple of weeks.

    Reply ↓

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  22. Shary Ennen

    I have made some homemade book bound books. The class I took a couple of years ago started us out at a pretty high level. I need to make some easier books to build up to that level. So I keep doing it! I loved your books and they look easy.
    sharyennen@gmail.com

    Reply ↓

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