And sometimes it’s a work of heart provided by a human, like this:

Although seemingly different, I believe both of these masterpieces have similar origins. In fact, I believe they come from the exact same place…the place where the very best of us resides. These pictures celebrate and demonstrate the potential of what we can be and communicate the exact same message: whether it’s Mother Nature or a human being, there is greatness in everything and everyone.

Sometimes we uncover this greatness on our own and sometimes it takes a little  inspiration to help us see it. But, make no mistake, it’s there. Our challenge is to recognize it when it shows up. Let’s face it, it’s easy to see greatness in these examples, I mean, what’s not to admire? But greatness comes in all varieties, whether it’s in the form of a simple, every day sunrise or in the gesture of someone offering an umbrella to another in the rain. Both are great.

Think about if for a second… the sun comes up every day. That alone is great. Someone helps someone out every single day. Also great. But we forget how truly great these things are because they seem ordinary, common place. We’re used to them. So, my theory is that every once in a while we get a reminder, like these here, to help us recognize both the stunning and the every day greatness that exists around us. But that’s not all.

More than that, I think examples like these have a much higher purpose. Their purpose is to inspire us to recognize and uncover our own, unique greatness.

Not every sunrise looks like this. But every once in a while the light shines through the clouds in such a way as to illuminate everything around it, casting so strong a radiant blaze that everything touched by this light has no choice but to respond. Whether it’s the glowing stately rock perched on the ocean cliff or the smallest grain of sand shimmering in the light, both are inspired by the sun, to be more.

The same holds true for us. If we choose to, we can reflect the greatness of people like this man who has decided to dedicate his life to serving others because he “just wants to help”. There is a light that shines from within people like this and, like the grain of sand shimmering in the glow of the sun, we can be inspired by the light emanating from this man to do more and to be more. Does this mean we follow his lead, cast off the life we know to support a particular cause? Absolutely not. It just means we have the opportunity to reflect the greatness seen here and find our own unique version of it. Because it’s in every one of us.

We had no idea what she was talking about so we looked it up and we found out that the Streamys are the internet version of the Oscars, Golden Globes, Emmys, etc. and past winners have been the likes of none other than the brilliant Neil Patrick Harris for, “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”.

Really? Whoa. We were honored. We couldn’t believe someone thought that much of our quirky little series to nominate us. We thought it was cute at first. And then, we thought a little bit more…

What if we could win? Something…anything? Stranger things have happened.

So, we decided: WE’RE GOING FOR IT!

If you are a “Journey to Ellen” fan and you’d like to see it win the Streamys Award for Best Comedy Web Series, vote here. When prompted for url put in http://JourneytoEllen.com

Thankfully the geniuses behind the Streamys have made voting remarkably easy. Just go in and vote. Seriously, it will take you like three seconds.

BUT WAIT! There’s more…

Voting ends on the 18th! (you can vote once per day, per computer) So we need to act fast! So please, vote, pass this on to your friends and recruit more “Journey to Ellen” fans. We’ve decided, we want to win!

Plus, we love the irony of possibly winning this thing and STILL not being on her show. Thanks for helping to make it happen!

Boom Boom!

So go ahead, pass those cards out to whomever you want, whenever you want, however you want and then sit back and wait for those Boom Boom! deeds to show up in your “My Decks “page, where you can read their stories and smile about the chain of goodness you started.

Now, that’s some good work!

Boom Boom!

Believe us, we asked ourselves this same thing in the beginning. It is certainly something we wrestled with in the early formation of Boom Boom! Revolution and, while we have always known our intention and the why’s of our choice, this post reminded us that we didn’t really ever communicate it to everyone.

Duh. Our bad.

So, we’d like to take this opportunity to share a little bit more with you the reasons we went this route.

We did a lot of research, thought long and hard about it and, ultimately, decided not to declare 501(c)(3) status. Why? Well, the simple answer is this: we wanted to have more flexibility than non profit status allowed. As an S-Corp, we have more influence in the structure of our company, the products we create, the money we give away and how we do it.

So, that’s the simple and easy answer.

Satisfied? Great. We’ll see you around.

Not entirely happy with that and need more? No problem. Read on…

In forming Boom Boom! we thought about two things: 1) why we were forming the company and 2) what we wanted our legacy to be. It didn’t take long to realize that the answers to both questions were the same: to make good and lasting change in the world.

This answer set the course for every decision after that.

We felt the most effective way to achieve that goal was to become part of an emerging sector of our economy consisting of socially responsible and societally beneficial companies; these companies are literally changing the way the world does business (think Tom’s Shoes, for instance). Part of the “good” we wanted to impart was to be on the forefront of an exciting shift in the marketplace that is helping re-define what it means to be a “for-profit” company and changing the perception of what it means to “do business”.

Traditionally there have been 3 sectors of commerce:

1. For-Profit corporations whose mission is to make money.
2. Government service whose mission is to meet citizen needs.
3. Non-profit organizations whose mission is to provide a social need that is not addressed by either of the former.

We wanted to be a part of the newly emerging 4th Sector of commerce: For Good and For Profit. Businesses in the 4th Sector offer product and services for social good at a sustainable price. They not only boost the economy by creating business in the marketplace, they also apportion profits for social good. In this way these businesses are economically self-sustaining, relying solely on the value they provide and the revenue they generate from their consumers. In other words they don’t need to constantly be searching for grants or donations from outside sources because they create their own source of funding.

Essentially, everyone who buys products from a 4th Sector company is a benefactor because their money is going to a company who turns around and gives money away to charities and causes. Essentially, customers of 4th Sector companies are partners and investors in making the world a better place. It’s a new and emerging business model and one we are thrilled to be on the forefront of.

Currently, 10% of profits from Boom Boom! Cards goes to multiple charitable organizations chosen by people when they register their decks. We are in the process of creating other Boom Boom! Revolution products with the same intention. Our goal is to have a variety of products in which the after tax profits goes to our varied non-profit partners.

Ultimately, our mission is to make sure that, at every single level possible, Boom Boom! Revolution serves societal good…from the products we put to market, to the building of a healthy business that breathes life into our economy, to changing the way business is done, to gifting profits to our non-profit partners. We want to be as effective as possible in contributing to and creating good.

So, the next time you buy a product, check it out. Find out where your money goes beyond the day to day operations of running that business. You know how you can buy products with the symbol the indicates that it’s “eco friendly” or “green”? Tamara Gordy, our friend from another 4th sector business, Lovin’ Scoopful, proposes that there be a symbol that indicates whether a company is “socio friendly”, something that lets the consumer know that they are buying from a socially aware and socially generous organization.

We think that’s a great idea…what do you think?

Boom Boom!

For the Boom Boom! Room, we cannot think about the year that was 2009 without thinking about you. That’s right, all you amazing people out there who saw or heard about Boom Boom! and thought to yourselves, “How can I get in on that?” All of you who heard the word “revolution” and didn’t shirk away saying, “Nah, that’s not my gig,” but rather, shouted, “Heck yeah! Sign me up!”

You are the reason someone smiled today. You are the reason someone’s day was made just a bit better. You are the reason Boom Boom! exists. You are the reason we love showing up to work and turning on our computers each day. And, YOU are the reason the world is going to change.

Seriously, make no mistake about it…you are on the cutting edge. You are among those who know something is happening out there. You also know that whatever it is, it’s going to change everything. We couldn’t agree more. And we couldn’t be more thrilled to be on this joy ride with you. Hands up, people! It’s going to be a wild one!

We are so excited for what’s next, and we are even more excited to share it with you in 2010. A sincere thanks to you. Not only for believing in Boom Boom! but also for being a part of promoting good in our world. Let’s be honest, it needs it and, without you, it just simply won’t happen. So, the human race thanks you and so do we.

Boom Boom!

You're Perfect.

Now, I am not sure why he decided to make the sign. Or why he spent his morning greeting commuters with it. Or why he was so dang happy. All I know is he brought a smile and created joy for every single person that passed him. People were honking, waving at him and yelling things like, “Thanks” and “So are you!”

You might be thinking, “Aww, that’s nice.” Which would make sense and it’s probably what I should have been thinking. But it’s not. When I first saw him, my immediate reaction was one of guilt, like “Sheesh, I suck.”

I mean this guy obviously got up this morning and thought, very intentionally, “What can I do to make people happy today?” I didn’t think anything like that. Not even close. I thought things like, “Where’s my coffee?” and “Man, I hate working out,” and “Okay, okay cat…I’ll feed you. Hush!” Not once, not even for one second, did I think about how I could enhance someone else’s life experience (the cat doesn’t count). Boy. I felt like a jerk.

But then I realized, I am not alone here. It’s the rare person who wakes up and wonders what they are going to do today to make someone else’s day better. And it makes perfect sense why…life doesn’t really lend itself to that; most days it’s just about trying to get done what needs to get done. And if that happens, victory! It’s hard to think about everyone, all the time when you need to take care of what’ s happeing for you. I get it. Boy, do I get it.

So, what’s the answer?

I don’t know.

All I know is that it’s easy to get mired in the day to day and hard to find the time to break out of the, “Go, go, go” mentality. But, maybe, just maybe, all it takes is one singular moment of intention. Just that one thought, at any time of the day, “What can I do to make someone’s day a bit better.” Notice I said “a bit”, because it’s not about changing someone’s life (although great if you do) or that sweeping grand gesture. Sometimes it’s about the littlest thing. A simple thing. A note. A kind word. A gesture of appreciation. A sign. That’s all it takes.

And that’s when I came to the conclusion that the guy with the sign did, indeed, make my day. His intent wasn’t to make me feel guilty. His intent was to make me smile. It was a simple gesture and it did its job…and then some. Because it got me to think about how I can create that experience for even just one other person each day.

So tomorrow I am going to ask myself that question (hopefully I’ll remember). It might not be first thing when I get up in the morning, but at some point throughout the day I’ll do it. And then I’m going to see what happens.

http://bettertheworld.com

Do you have your own “Kind Find”? Do you know of an organization, a group of people, or an individual working hard to make the world a better place? Tell us all about it in the comments below. Got a link? Add it so everyone can check it out (plus, we might like it so much we’ll want to do a segment on it in the future). Thanks for letting us know what’s good out there.

Boom Boom!

http://possibilityadvocate.com

Do you have your own “Kind Find”? Do you know of an organization, a group of people, or an individual working hard to make the world a better place? Tell us all about it in the comments below. Got a link? Add it so everyone can check it out (plus, we might like it so much we’ll want to do a segment on it in the future). Thanks for letting us know what’s good out there.

Boom Boom!

Do you have your own “Kind Find”? Do you know of an organization, a group of people, or an individual working hard to make the world a better place? Tell us all about it in the comments below. Got a link? Add it so everyone can check it out (plus, we might like it so much we’ll want to do a segment on it in the future). Thanks for letting us know what’s good out there.

Boom Boom!

http://kiddywampus.com

Do you have your own “Kind Find”? Do you know of an organization, a group of people, or an individual working hard to make the world a better place? Tell us all about it in the comments below. Got a link? Add it so everyone can check it out (plus, we might like it so much we’ll want to do a segment on it in the future). Thanks for letting us know what’s good out there.

Boom Boom!