Friendship Bracelet GIVEAWAY!!!

Don't you just LOVE winning things?? 

Well, today you have the opportunity to jump in on a great giveaway from the Compeer Buffalo blog. Jewelry anyone?? 

We are giving away this bracelet design created in our Compeer Shared Profits Artisans (SPA) group!  Winning is easy- see the giveaway entry rules below. 

Giveaway bracelet!

The bracelet being given away this week was made by me, but many other designs made by the members of our Shared Profits Artisans group are available for purchase as well. Call Compeer at 716-883-3331 for more details!
                (ask for Jennifer)

WHAT IS A “SPA” GROUP?

Compeer’s SPA group is made up of Compeer friends and volunteers interested in being a part of a cooperative craft-producing environment.  Group members engage in open and supportive social interaction while working toward completing a production goal.  Whether making jewelry, sewing therapeutic eye pillows, or sharing artistic or creative writing skills, individuals engage in the group production of a completed product. Through their work, members develop skills transferrable to support success in the community, as well as develop a social sense of belonging and camaraderie with their peers. All donations received in return for our bracelets are put toward purchasing supplies for future groups-- we are self-sustaining! 

IS THIS THERAPEUTIC?

The simple answer is YES. It has been long understood in the fields of psychology, occupational therapy, art therapy, and neurology that group work benefits both the physical and mental health of participants. Compeer matches are based on the fact that friendship and social interaction is healing in and of itself. Our SPA groups blend these theories in an effort to bring motivation, validation, social support and a sense of purpose to the lives of its members in a sustainable way.

GIVEAWAY ENTRY RULES: 

Winning is easy!

Step 1: "Like" Compeer of Greater Buffalo on Facebook.  Compeer of Greater Buffalo, Inc.Non-Profit Organization521 like this

Step 2: Follow this blog using the 'join this site' button in the upper right column. It's important you join, so that we can contact you if you are our winner! 

Step 3: Leave a comment on this post about one of your favorite friendship moments! Could be something nice a friend did for you or a special day shared with a friend-- get creative!! (be sure you don't post anonymously-- you must use your google friend account, or I won't be able to contact you if you win!)

A winner will be picked at random from the comments section next week Thursday, February 2nd. You will be notified by email if you are the lucky winner!!  (Unfortunately, we can only ship to the US and Canada, so international readers can't participate in this giveaway....my apologies to our world-readers!)

Good Luck Friends!!!

-Jennifer

UPDATE: WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!

The names of those who entered were placed into RANDOM.ORG, which (randomly!) selected our winner............

The winner is..........Stephanie!!!  

Congratulations, and thanks to all those who entered! 

Adding 'purpose' to every day.....

Lately, I've been really hung up on the idea of a sense of 'purpose' as a guide for everyday life....

It's not a new idea for me, and actually, I think that this concept led me to work in the 'helping' professions to begin with.....

Even when I was little, something inside of me always pushed me toward what it was that I was 'meant' to be doing. I knew that there were certain times when I felt the most confident, the most sure, and the most at peace. These times almost always were when I was engaged in something creative, and usually also involved helping others. It seems that I knew even then that these factors were in tune with my purpose, but as a child I certainly didn't have the words to say that, or even the awareness to think it........Back then, I just knew what felt right. And back then, I wasn't held back by the roles that society tends to impose upon us as we grow.
I knew I liked to draw, so I did...I knew I liked to cheer people up-- so most of the time I would give my drawings away, and get a smile. It was intuitive, it was easy, and I felt good about it.

So what changes?  As adults, so many factors come into play as we decide how to spend our time, and where to focus our energy. We may have work obligations, a family to raise or older parents to care for, a home or apartment to maintain. (Bills to pay!) These are all real concerns that, most times, we cannot do much to change.

There are however, many things that keep us from our purpose driven ideas that we can get around. The biggest obstacle most people have to face when deciding to be true to themselves and their desires is the fear of disapproval from others.
For me, this could look like, "I love to paint, but I have so much to do around the house--- I would look irresponsible if I left the dishes in the sink while I paint a picture."
The fact is, a couple of dishes in the sink are not likely to affect me in any way-- washed or unwashed. If I spend my time on the dishes, I will be no more energized than if I don't. If I leave them there,  I will be no worse off.....the task has no meaning to me.
On the other hand, if I take twenty minutes to paint- I know that I will feel excited by the creativity, and energized by the sense of accomplishment. I also know that when I am excited and energized-- I get more done!! (including dishes-  bonus!)
The point here is, if we let all of our daily activities become those we feel obligated to do....the outcome will always be less than what a day with purpose could bring.


Nine times out of ten, what we think others are thinking of us is not even true. Let's get back to what moves us-- let's get back to PURPOSE.


THE BASIC TECHNIQUE
The filter technique below allows you to identify your purpose by bypassing the conditioned thought associations relating to ‘permission’ and ‘disapproval.’ It's broad enough to help you make big choices, like job moves, or small ones like how to spend a Saturday afternoon-- with YOU in mind!! :

1.		Identify what you like about yourself.
2.		Identify how you most like spending your time.
3.		Imagine your idea of a perfect world.

Your purpose is what links these three things together. In other words, it is the way you can use your favorite characteristics, abilities and attributes in activities you like best, to manifest your vision of a perfect world. Don’t be deceived by the simplicity of this technique.   -exerpt from Anxiety Culture, how to find your own purpose.


So here's what I got when I tried this:

1. I like that I am artistic and creative.
2. I like spending my time with friends and working on projects.
3. My idea of a perfect world is one where people can accept each other and work together.

One way to link these things together for me is: Providing a creative group project open to all of my friends..... like the Compeer Care and Share Jewelry group. You can check your Compeer newsletter for more info on the group, but basically, in this setting I get to be artistic and creative....I get to spend time with friends working on a project....and we can all accept one another and work together. This ties in all of the three things I identified- so cool!

Try the technique above and feel free to share one of your purpose-driven ideas in the comments section!