Yesterday I picked up a copy of “How To Be An Explorer Of The World” by Keri Smith. And a small handbag-size  journal with a combination of blank pages for drawing and lined pages so I can take lots of notes. This will be fun!

I was reading the introduction and I noticed something. This, from page 5 of her book (thanks to Keri for letting me share these images, because it looks so much better in ‘written in the dark’ handwriting :

Now read the same list again.

Now read it again and think about how you engage with people. Yes, even on Twitter.

* * * * * * *

I’m looking forward to investigating my world over the next couple of months. I might even do some of the explorations with the kids.When my boys play with my camera I get a real insight into how they view the world, and their little explorations. This apparently, is how they see things.

Keri Smith’s book reminds me of the way we grew up, taught to find faces or people in everyday things (one of Keri’s exercises) and encouraged to notice the works of art to be found around us.  It’s an approach to looking I hope I can pass onto my own children.

Do you like to explore the everyday? How do you like to capture those moments?

Hello! It’s lovely to see you. Really, it is. But it’s OK with me if you don’t want to look like your face.

Maybe you want to appear upside-down for a change. Or perhaps your 3 year old told you that his crazy scribble with googly eyes looks just like you. If you want to look like a cartoon character, a sunrise, a monkey or a polkadot, that’s OK with me too.

The thing is, when you change your face, I get to see another side of you. I’m won’t get upset or feel like I can’t find you any more if you do. Because hopefully, I’ll recognise your voice through our conversations and the value that you always add to my day.

Of course, sometimes it’s helpful to see your face, like just before a TweetUp, or if you’re inviting me to be involved with some kind of project. Sharing your smiling face can be a friendly and genuine gesture. And besides, your face is beautiful.

But, I just wanted to say, it’s OK with me – if at times you feel so inclined- you don’t look like your face

Now that my fundraiser is over I’ve updated the Worldshaper slides, including this shorter bite size version for you to enjoy!

I hope you are inspired by these women who use the web to shape, influence and change their worlds.

Joanna Young has an interesting writing challenge happening on her blog over the next couple of months on the theme of ‘Possibility’, covering the language of possibility, writing beyond our sense of what’s possible and helps to make things happen, achieving (im)possible writing goal and  the promise of “a group writing project to help stretch the boundaries of what’s possible in blogland…”

Her post appeared in my RSS reader just after I read ‘The Value of Wonder’ by Chris Brogan where he challenges us to add some wonderment to our working day.

When I started this blog nearly two years ago I called it Wonderwebby because I like to wonder about the wonderful webby things. The possibilities. Just imagine. Dare to dream a little.

What sparks your imagination at work? How do you like to include ‘wonderment and possibility’ in your day?

Twitip kindly accepted my guest post about the benefits of using Twitter for fundraising. I shaed a couple of tips based on the last several months raising funds for Opportunity International Australia- which ends in just a few hours! Over $7,000 was raised for a program to help women out of poverty through small business loans and a 2 year development program.

From the post “Raising funds on Twitter isn’t just about getting money for your charity. It’s about connecting with people, creating awareness and it’s about giving.” …you can read the rest on Twitip.

I couldn’t resist. I created a second set of slides for the Fuze Tell A Story Contest. Enjoy this simple A – Z story about using social media for a fundraising campaign

Feel free to vote too! Any prize money will be donated to Opportunity International

Fuze Tell A Story Contest

How easy is it to tell a story? Easy – so I thought.  I’ve been trying to think up a story for a Slideshare competition for a few days and had grand plans of creating something unique with hand drawn charcoal images. But first you need a story, right? I felt just like my six year old who freezes up when his teacher asks him to write about his weekend – overwhelmed by the sheer number of possibilities. I did manage to come up with a starting point for a story, but then the weekend swallowed up my idea.

Eventually I was left with a couple of hours last night. I was going through some files on my computer when I saw some photos from the Shout Out Social exhibition, and thought to myself ‘I really ought to do something with those’. Voila! Instant story.

Please vote for these slides in the Fuze Tell a Story Contest, because if I win the prize money will be donated to women in poverty through Opportunity International (Grand Prize is $5,000.) I hope you like this short story ‘about love, beginning with you’. It might not be the story I had hoped to write, but I think you’ll enjoy it nonetheless.

I use Google Alerts for different things, including a regular search for microfinance. Last week I discovered James Pratt, a lawyer who is riding his bike across South America over the next 12 months to raise funds for Opportunity International (US). James has just started using his mobile phone to tweet about his adventure.

I also stumbled across a woman called ‘Linda‘  on Twitter. Linda is cycling across Canada to raise awareness about ME/CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) – a debilitating neurological disorder.

While there’s nothing new about charity bike rides I think it’s great that people are starting to use Twitter to share their personal journeys  as they cycle for a cause, raising funds using sites like Chipin and First Giving.

Their use of Twitter, blogging and video gives us an insight into their experience and allows us to interact with them as they hit the road, and the fundraising widgets help us to visually track their fundraising efforts over a period of time.

Do you feel better connected to non profit causes when individuals use social media to share their experience?

Despite what some people say, it’s not difficult to find the time to use social media. You can write a blog post to share your knowledge, rather than answer the same question multiple times via email to a limited audience, for instance.

However, have you considered how social media has become almost too easy to use?  It becomes too easy to quickly skim through the blog posts in your RSS feedreader, even the posts you enjoy. It can be too easy to read a blog post and move onto the next task, rather than engage in conversation by commenting or sharing it. A lazy retweet is easier than adding a couple of words with your own point of view.  We become consumers and regurgitators of information again, when we could really be participating in something more valuable.

When I saw this animation, I nearly wrote a quick tweet about it. But I thought it was worth posting for posterity. Watch it in full screen, with a cup of tea (or coffee or whatever takes your fancy) and enjoy.

Watching this reminded me of my animation lecturer explaining how animation allows you to create illusion and make something out of nothing. The definition of animation is -  from Latin animatus, give life to, from anima breath, soul. As you know, it takes a lot of time to create an animation and only a few minutes to enjoy the results of an original idea. 

I hope you were able to take your time to watch this little creative 3 minute refreshment and catch your breath in a fast paced day.

Keep on inspiring!

This month I’m wrapping up my fundraising activities for Opportunity International and need to raise another USD$4,000 for a 2 year program providing small business loans and training for Filipino women  currently living in poverty.

So I thought I would ask 1000 people to donate USD$4 - the price of a drink – to raise the total funds for this project. A coffee costs $4 at some places these days – I would be really grateful if you could shout me one

Many thanks to people who have chipped in so far already raising 50% of funds for this AUD$10,000 program including:

@sachac @socialtopher @sminkworks @badkoala @kt29 @gypsychk @joannayoung @digitalfilipino @joannestanton @gusposkus @juliancole @ethmanmcc @mspecht @bettinac @janelle_amet @onlinedialogues @blm849 @iggypintado @andypiper @nancywhite @verbaw @marigo @elsua @aqualung @SonjaBarfoed and @deswalsh

You can read more and donate at http://wonderwebby.chipin.com

Update – thanks for your donations so far including drinks and rounds from @kdelarue @deswalsh and @innotecture – only 981 drinks to go!