The $5 philanthropist

Fly in to Nanaimo, BC last night after a long day. Had to stay the night because there were no flights that would get me in this morning in time to deliver a talk to a local Rotary Club.

Woke up at 630am to be at the Rotary Club at 7am. Only there was no Rotary Club. The doors were locked, the lights were off. No one home. They had changed their location two weeks ago but forgot to inform us of the change. Schlep back to the hotel and answer emails for two hours.

Drive a fair distance to a small school. Cab is late, stressed out that I'll be late... Out of energy. Nothing to say. Convinced *this* is the time where I just totally bomb. Feeling a cold coming on.

Have no idea what I'm going to say. And then I start.

And I know exactly what to say, and I roll on. Half an hour of my history and half an hour of "the bullshitter's guide to bullshit" which is an honest-to-goodness instructional session in using the commercial skills of persuasion in changing the world.

Everytime I speak to youth groups, I offer my brain to address any problem they are faced with in trying to change the world. The response to the offer varies place to place. This was the best interaction I've ever had. It was AMAZING!

We covered so much ground and it was very interactive.

My only regret was that I had a flight to catch and I had to hurry out of the school and didn't have enough time to talk with the students one-on-one.

These speaking sessions are quite selfish. No matter how tired I am, no matter what leads up to my getting there, I leave feeling totally energized.

I'm a horrible blogger. I'm making peace with this reality.

Labels: education, nanaimo, school, speaking

I arrived into Campbell River this afternoon. I'm pretty sure that the pilot of our small plane forgot that there were people on board as he essentially dive bombed us onto the runway. An adventurous beginning to day.

I spoke at a secondary school here in town this afternoon and was saying to my friend Ryland that I never really know whether I made an impact or not. Though it sounds cheesy, I really do believe that inspiring just one person justifies the expense and time that these trips cost. I find that most students prefer to ask me questions one-on-one, not in the actual Q&A session but today, I had two great questions asked of me: 1) Do you have any pet projects? (Answer: My fundraiser for Victoria Women's Sexual Assault Centre and my Project to help raise funds for Yves) and 2) Who do I look up to?

That question really got me thinking. Though I admire parts of various high-profile people, there isn't one person I really get totally excited about. As I thought about the question more, I realized that the people that I really admire are a lot of the people that I find through GiveMeaning. Guys like Logan Cochrane, and Chris & Jeannie and so many other people all around the world doing amazing work and following their passions.

Just a few minutes before writing this blog entry, I noticed that one of the students who attended my talk this afternoon has already created a new proposal at the site. Click on her name on her proposal to read more about her. She is a great example of what I mean by being inspired by many of the people that use GiveMeaning.

The cynic in me says that this sounds like I'm pandering to GiveMeaning members but I promise I'm being entirely sincere when I talk about the inspiration and motivation I draw from our community.



Just finished speaking at a secondary school here in Campbell River. The last time I was here was in transit to Hollyhock on Cortez Island which is a quick water-taxi away from here. My hotel looks out on the docks where the water-taxi is and as the sun is starting to break, the urge to just jump over there is rising.

For those of you that don't know Hollyhock, click here. GiveMeaning is one of the sponsors for the upcoming Social Change Institute.

I jump at the opportunity to go to

Labels: campbellriver, charity, education, inspiration, school, youth