Horrors!! Just this week the Oxford English Dictionary named "selfie" the word of the year for 2013. They did this because of the word's tremendous increase in usage. Oxford goes on to define "selfie" as a picture taken of yourself that is planned to be uploaded to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or any other sort of social networking website.
Let's turn that trend, and everyone's cameras, around and start taking "UNselfie" pictures. These "UNselfie" pictures could be of people doing good things, of acts of kindness, of compassion in action! Being UNselfish!
And #givingtuesday is the perfect day to start the movement. December 3, 2013 is #givingtuesday, which is the first Tuesday following Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It is a day set aside beginning two years ago to remind us to give back, be generous, volunteer for a local charity or donate to a local cause. Over 6,300 charities, corporations, politicians and foundations from around the world have come together on this day to celebrate the idea of compassion, giving back, BEING UNSELFISH!
Check out the site #givingtuesday to learn more about the day. Use this hashtag #UNselfie and #givingtuesday to tweet a related message. Last year donations tracked on #givingtuesday increased by 50 percent from the prior year and average gifts increase by 25 percent. People are listening.
Find your own unique cause, pick someone you can help. Try out your compassion skills. Take a photo of you or others holding up a sign saying what you did to give back and then post it. Take a photo of the people you partnered with or provided a service to!
This year #givingtuesday is going to be huge. Join the movement and celebrate that day; ask people to post "Unselfie" photos and do unselfish acts. Remind us all what giving without expectations is about and how great it feels!
Even though it is just one day we could very well have started something big that could reverberate into the other days of the year. Join the Generosity Network and let us know other ways you are connecting with others for the causes you are passionate about.