bowling with the punches

When I think of grand gestures, I think of high school.  Remember when you had time on your hands, disposable income in your pocket and a lot of emotion to share?  One of my favorite giftings received was an unexpected scavenger hunt.  The receiver enjoys the impromptu "just-go-with-it" spontaneity of this gift, while the do-er offers a labor of love in the preparation and craftsmanship of the details.

I have been thinking about launching a scavenger hunt extravaganza for a poor unsuspecting soul for a while.  This past week things finally appeared to be coming together.

I identified my victim, ahhem, I mean, gifting recipient.  
Cannot reiterate how important it is that this unsuspecting person has a "why-not" personality...imagine watching with open mouth as 
a.  "worst-case Willemina" finds your clue, reads, decides a real creepster is trying to elaborately kidnap her and runs away.

b.  "oblivious-to-the-world Olga" doesn't even ever discover the HUGE clue staring him/her in the face.

I arranged for us to meet up at my house.  
You must have a plan for springing this on your identified person.  Keep things somewhat in their comfort zone, especially depending on personality.  Ie, start at a pre-arranged location so they can safely assume you are the mastermind behind this versus leaving a clue on their windshield, say, at the grocery store...

I prepared the master plan.
My best advice is to keep this pretty simple...I like to use the "easy as 1, 2, 3" rule.  Three stops yield glee; add four and it's a chore.  Make sure you save the best for last!  I like to end at a location where you can enjoy an activity together.  For example, this hunt ended at a bowling alley (that just happens to house a juke box with a 90s Mixtape Selection...'nuff said).

I crafted the clues.
You can just go nuts here.  To make the clues more challenging, you can incorporate word puzzles into the clues.  You can offer visuals, such as drawing maps of where they should go.  Positive reinforcement goes a long way.  Leave little treats with each clue.

I'd planned that my dear friend would show up, come to knock on my door only to find...SURPRISE...an envelope addressed to her.  How curious.  The suspense is too much.  She'd have to open it, of course.  Inside would be Clue #1 accompanied by a letter persuading her that the following scavenger hunt is, in fact, a random act of love created for her enjoyment.  I was literally taping the clue to my front door before zooming off to hide the remaining clues, and then, things began to fizzle.  Or, drizzle...literally drizzle.  And that's when it hit me.  It is after 7 pm on a Tuesday.  Dark.  Cold.  Now raining.

Sometimes "the best laid plans of mice and men go astray."  Proudly, I adopted the "just-go-with-it" attitude that I so carefully selected this particular friend for possessing.  We opened the clues together (in the warmth of my home) and enjoyed a good laugh before heading off to the bowling alley together.  Ain't nothing better than a good friend and all-you-can-bowl Tuesdays.

{habit}ual love

21 habit-forming days of random acts of love later...

Two of the most pleasant surprises have been:

1.  Generosity is absolutely contagious!  

2.  Once your eyes are open to looking for creative ways to love those around you, you are also more in tune to the many {often overlooked} ways others do this for you.

My favorite surprise happened early on.  One of the first random acts of love was to send some letters to far-away friends.  Literally two days after mailing my first letter, I received my very own letter from an un-related friend who I've never had written correspondance with!  Encountering the many ways I am the recipient of other's love helped fuel my continued participation in this challenge.   

As we round into the home stretch, we are planning the mother of all random acts of love.  

Stay tuned for our grand finale love bomb*

Spread Love

 

goodies for our besties

So, you know when you begin the process of building a new habit in hopes of breaking an old habit...and it is just plain painful?    Like the time I (Allison) attempted to increase my H2O intake, only to have my body reject that idea within 8 ounces of my 64 ounce goal.  Or like the time I (Sarah) attempted a 30 day People.com cleanse...browsing history is a real cuss.

It's been surprising to discover that the daily pursuit of sharing random acts of love has required such, dare we say, effort. We mean, really, it is only day 7.  Day 7!?!  "They" say it takes 21 days to form a habit.  This realization has been like an unavoidable speed bump.  Reliance on thoughtfulness, creativity and whimsy won't see us through.  We have to cultivate our generosity.  And we are talking a deep-seeded generosity, a habitual nurturing of our cherished relationships.  Not a surface, sure I'll throw a couple bucks or an hour towards this or that, but a rooted desire to share with others, to encourage others, to actually love them well.

Excited to update you with an end product of some of the big and small ways we've love bombed our community.  For tonight, we prepared care packages for some specific dear ones.  Put a stamp on it.  And in case you forgot how, THIS is for you.