<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--Generated by Squarespace Site Server v5.5.4 (http://www.squarespace.com/) on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:37:30 GMT--><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"><title>Authentically Giving</title><subtitle>Awesome Power: Giving, Gratitude &amp; Joy Journal</subtitle><id>http://authenticgiving.com/authentic-giving-blog/</id><link rel="alternate" type="application/xhtml+xml" href="http://authenticgiving.com/authentic-giving-blog/"/><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://authenticgiving.com/authentic-giving-blog/atom.xml"/><updated>2009-06-21T23:53:25Z</updated><generator uri="http://www.squarespace.com/" version="Squarespace Site Server v5.5.4 (http://www.squarespace.com/)">Squarespace</generator><entry><title>Children &amp; Giving</title><category term="children"/><category term="donating-pass it on"/><category term="giving"/><category term="giving"/><category term="kids"/><category term="laughing"/><category term="teach"/><id>http://authenticgiving.com/authentic-giving-blog/2008/11/18/children-giving.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://authenticgiving.com/authentic-giving-blog/2008/11/18/children-giving.html"/><author><name>Umoja Joy</name></author><published>2008-11-18T14:00:29Z</published><updated>2008-11-18T14:00:29Z</updated><content type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[<p><span class="full-image-float-right ssNonEditable"><span><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3018/2924393107_e56488ae06.jpg?v=0&amp;__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1226323062329" alt="" /></span></span></p>
<p>From Jean Chatzky's <a href="http://www.oprah.com/article/money/money_kids_giving/2">Teach Your Children to Give</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Let them choose their own causes.</strong> You may be on the board of one organization or another. Don't push them on your kids. Instead, understand that when children can focus on things they find interesting, they'll be more apt to stay with it. So present them with some charitable or volunteering opportunities that they'll enjoy or at the very least understand. An important thing to consider is that, while natural instinct makes you want to shield your children from the wrongs of the world, that's not always the best approach. "There are sensitive, age-appropriate ways to introduce kids to issues in the world around them so that they are portrayed not as unsolvable and scary, but as opportunities to make a difference," says Ellen Sabin, author of <em>The Giving Book</em>, which was written for kids.</p>
</blockquote>]]></content></entry><entry><title>Giving, Gratitude &amp; Turkey</title><category term="aleta st. james"/><category term="giving"/><category term="gratitude"/><category term="gratitude"/><category term="jean chatzky"/><category term="thanksgiving"/><category term="trent stamp"/><category term="turkey"/><id>http://authenticgiving.com/authentic-giving-blog/2008/11/17/giving-gratitude-turkey.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://authenticgiving.com/authentic-giving-blog/2008/11/17/giving-gratitude-turkey.html"/><author><name>Umoja Joy</name></author><published>2008-11-17T13:04:53Z</published><updated>2008-11-17T13:04:53Z</updated><content type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[<p><span class="full-image-block ssNonEditable"><span><a href="http://flickr.com/photos/vickispix/303920709/" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/106/303920709_a821681fa9.jpg?v=0&amp;__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1226322336447" alt="" /></a></span></span></p>
<p>Thanksgiving is an awesome time to reflect on all that we recieve.</p>
<p>Listen is as Jean Chatzky's chats with Aleta St. James on the giving and gratitude.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<blockquote>
<h2>Take your charitable giving as seriously as you took your investing</h2>
</blockquote>]]></content></entry><entry><title>Gratitude Greetings Day: November 20th</title><category term="29gifts"/><category term="cami walker"/><category term="cards"/><category term="creativity"/><category term="fun"/><category term="giving challenge"/><category term="gratitude"/><category term="gratitude"/><id>http://authenticgiving.com/authentic-giving-blog/2008/11/15/gratitude-greetings-day-november-20th.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://authenticgiving.com/authentic-giving-blog/2008/11/15/gratitude-greetings-day-november-20th.html"/><author><name>Umoja Joy</name></author><published>2008-11-15T15:00:05Z</published><updated>2008-11-15T15:00:05Z</updated><content type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[<p><strong><span class="full-image-float-left ssNonEditable"><span><a href="http://flickr.com/photos/darwinbell/384845612/" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/89/384845612_c6879a7544.jpg?v=0&amp;__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1226325163756" alt="" /></a></span></span>Cami Walker over at 29-day Giving Challenge is stirring up a bit of gratitude!<br /></strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>As a community, we are declaring November 20th Gratitude Greetings Day.</strong><br /> Those who decide to celebrate this day will <strong>MAKE A GREETING CARD</strong> (or two or three) and give or mail it to a loved one on Thursday, November 20. Or feel free to give a card to a stranger on the street. It's so important to tell people what we appreciate about them and why we're grateful they exist.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://givingchallenge.ning.com/forum/topics/take-part-in-our-gratitude">Join the fun!</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>]]></content></entry><entry><title>Joy "Martha" Diet</title><category term="children"/><category term="joy"/><category term="joy"/><category term="joyful"/><category term="laughing"/><id>http://authenticgiving.com/authentic-giving-blog/2008/11/14/joy-martha-diet.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://authenticgiving.com/authentic-giving-blog/2008/11/14/joy-martha-diet.html"/><author><name>Umoja Joy</name></author><published>2008-11-14T12:13:17Z</published><updated>2008-11-14T12:13:17Z</updated><content type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[<p><span class="full-image-block ssNonEditable"><span><a href="http://flickr.com/photos/funkyah/296639825/" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/107/296639825_77610e1e90.jpg?v=0&amp;__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1226324656640" alt="" /></a></span><span class="thumbnail-caption" style="width: 500px;">Innocent Joy</span></span></p>
<blockquote>
<p><span style="font-size: 150%;">If you would be loved, love and be lovable.</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: right;"><strong>Benjamin Franklin</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Martha Beck is cooking up ways to live a more joyful life in her book The Joy Diet. A sampling from <em>O</em>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you have a choice between a feast of love and any other option, go with love. Compared to other activities, love-feasts will mess up your life, complicate your career, wear you out, make you crazy. But I guarantee that when you look back over the time you've spent on Earth, the feasts of love will be the events you'll remember most joyfully, the experiences that will make you glad you have lived.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/omag_200305_beck/6">Feasting on Love</a></p>]]></content></entry><entry><title>Join a Giving Circle</title><category term="community"/><category term="donating"/><category term="donations"/><category term="fresh idea"/><category term="friends"/><category term="fun"/><category term="giving"/><category term="giving"/><category term="giving circle"/><id>http://authenticgiving.com/authentic-giving-blog/2008/11/13/join-a-giving-circle.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://authenticgiving.com/authentic-giving-blog/2008/11/13/join-a-giving-circle.html"/><author><name>Umoja Joy</name></author><published>2008-11-13T17:00:25Z</published><updated>2008-11-13T17:00:25Z</updated><content type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[<p><span class="full-image-block ssNonEditable"><span><a href="http://flickr.com/photos/christing/226971923/" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/97/226971923_fb46d90fb4.jpg?v=0&amp;__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1226322018825" alt="" /></a></span></span></p>
<p>Ever consider joining forces with friends for more powerful giving?</p>
<p>Consider forming and joining a Giving Circle.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/200810_omag_giving_circle">Here's how.</a></p>]]></content></entry><entry><title>Giving on a Budget</title><category term="budget"/><category term="charity"/><category term="donation"/><category term="giving"/><category term="giving"/><category term="jean chatzky"/><category term="volunteer"/><id>http://authenticgiving.com/authentic-giving-blog/2008/11/12/giving-on-a-budget.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://authenticgiving.com/authentic-giving-blog/2008/11/12/giving-on-a-budget.html"/><author><name>Umoja Joy</name></author><published>2008-11-12T19:00:00Z</published><updated>2008-11-12T19:00:00Z</updated><content type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[<h2><span class="full-image-block ssNonEditable"><span><a href="http://flickr.com/photos/torley/2432931628/" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3260/2432931628_047f8482cb.jpg?v=0&amp;__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1226321505927" alt="" /></a></span></span>Wondering about giving on a budget?</h2>
<p>Click over to Jean Chatzky's article on giving this holiday season for some ideas. She discusses:</p>
<ul>
<li>Making giving count</li>
<li>Planning ahead</li>
<li>Volunteering</li>
</ul>
<p>and a bit more!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/money/personalfinance/20081101_expert_holidaygiving/1">Go there now!</a></p>]]></content></entry><entry><title>Kindness Rocks!</title><category term="29gifts"/><category term="cami walker"/><category term="giving"/><category term="giving challenge"/><category term="giving ideas"/><category term="kindness"/><category term="kindness"/><category term="strangers"/><id>http://authenticgiving.com/authentic-giving-blog/2008/11/10/kindness-rocks.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://authenticgiving.com/authentic-giving-blog/2008/11/10/kindness-rocks.html"/><author><name>Umoja Joy</name></author><published>2008-11-10T20:00:39Z</published><updated>2008-11-10T20:00:39Z</updated><content type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[<p><span class="full-image-block ssNonEditable"><span><a href="http://givingchallenge.ning.com/profiles/blogs/2039308:BlogPost:72455" target="_blank"><img src="http://api.ning.com/files/QPAAMhkrKZ1DJx8HnXeCsOq3eGh5BQcnARvt76yrYxQzZ*1HLjONgMwE5QQn3bNWpZtThlnt*pWoWpVkjjX*f8*mbuIbINTz/IMG_1363.JPG?width=737&amp;height=552&amp;__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1226325657156" alt="" /></a></span><span class="thumbnail-caption" style="width: 737px;">Kindness Rocks</span></span></p>
<p>I simply love the creativity of human spirits! Plus, I am kind of easy...but anyway I felt this was a wonderful idea for giving kindness.</p>
<p><a href="http://givingchallenge.ning.com/profiles/blogs/2039308:BlogPost:72455">Kindness Rocks!</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>]]></content></entry></feed>