Today all of us are posting about that experience.
Plant a Kiss Blog Hop Party
This was my second Plant a Kiss celebration. Last year I met with a few local creatives to make a labyrinth on the beach for others to find. It was one of the highlights of 2012 for me. This year, I wanted my kiss to keep the same spirit of celebration but knew I would be celebrating on the coat tails of a long journey that took me up the middle of the U.S. and back again over three weeks. I made self-care a priority for the day, but balanced that with a deep desire to share myself with others in a meaningful way. Since GIFT is my word for the year, I wanted my Kiss to be about giving.
The target for sharing my kiss this year was on the other side of the North Atlantic Ocean in Guinea, West Africa. If you have looked around on my website, you may have discovered The Benkadi Project page I have dedicated to work being done in the capital city of Conakry and in rural villages there. I didn’t pick the Benkadi Project out of a book or by running my finger across a map to choose a place. I chose it because I met a man, Fodé Cameron, and a woman, Helen Bond, last Summer who are doing beautiful work there and I wanted to somehow be part of what they were doing.
On my trip to Wisconsin, I stayed with her….Helen Bond. As luck would have it, my travels took me to her area on a day when she was hosting an event to help build biosand filter units for families through her non-profit, The Benkadi Project. The event featured West African drumming and provided education about the work they were doing. The Benkadi Project was planting major kisses that night by being one shy of reaching their financial goal to build 50 units. The water treatment will serve 50 families of 10 people for 10 years. That is 1,825,000 days of clean drinking water. I adored getting to be part of that!
For Plant a Kiss Day, I celebrated the good will I got to be part of and sent well wishes in the form of a meditation to Helen and the team she will be taking to Guinea later this week. As part of my celebration, I lit a candle and spent some time playing a drum that was made by Fodé. I also spent the day drinking water mindfully, being grateful for the easy with which it arrives to me anytime I need it and for the fact that it is safe and satisfying.
This year’s Plant a Kiss was very simple, but I think that is the beauty of giving. It can be just a thought, a wish, a prayer or can be traveling across an ocean to make a difference. It is amazing the feeling of love it can bring to your heart when it is based in genuine caring. I think that is probably why it is called Plant a KISS.
If you found your way to this page or have been hopping along visiting others who are part of the Plant a Kiss party, I would like to encourage you to thing of some way you can Plant a Kiss, too. Close your eyes right now and invite a simple act of giving to come into your heart. Let your mind work out an easy way to implement that, then join us! Let’s make the world a bit love laden today.
If you would like to know more about The Benkadi Project, you can….
Get the Details of the Water Initiative
Follow Benkadi Project on Facebook
Visit Plant a Kiss 2013
Special thanks to Sherry Richert Belul of Simply Celebrate for inviting me to be part of this event, I have felt blessed by it!
