“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects.”
Herman Melville
Here is the audio version of this post. Thank you so much for listening.
This is a story about social good. And about a beautiful hairdresser I know named Molly. And how some awesome heroes, and Facebook, saved her life.
We have become so jaded it seems, complaining about the platforms we choose to be on, about the ugliness that is shared, about the political rants. But while all of that is going on, something awesome happened. A life was saved.
Molly decided to follow her heart and travel the world. Something many dream of, but she had the courage to do it. I have been following her adventures via Facebook, as her family and friends had been too. To watch her have so much joy and freedom, so much adventure and happiness was so inspiring.
Then something happened. She had an accident. In Laos. She had no ID on her. She was going to die.
You see, the social web is what we make it. Just like anything. We can find it empowering, for ourselves, our communities and our businesses, or we can be mad at it. We can choose to add value to the conversation, or muddy it up with ugliness and TMI. We can choose to let it connect us, or push us away. It’s a choice. I am so grateful Molly, her family, her friends and the heroes that saved her life chose to use Facebook as a way to connect and share. As a way to stay in touch. A way in which it is meant to be used.
Molly has a long road to recovery ahead of her. If you feel inspired to share this story, share. If you feel inspired to donate to Molly’s recovery, click here Molly Deimeke GoFundMe.
To learn more about Molly’s story and the heroes who saved her life, click here. And bring the tissues. You will need it.
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
Søren Kierkegaard
As this amazing year comes to a close, we took a moment to look back at what made your heart sing.
Not surprisingly, you loved posts about our hair heroes such as Vidal and Ann Bray, and our profile on the incredibly talented family of hairdressers, and our friends The Teals. Our plea to “just do it” in our post What Are You Waiting For stuck a cord with you, as did our super easy social + digital cheat sheets and stories. These were your favorite blog posts of 2012.
It has been an awesome year creating and sharing our passion with you, thank you for being here with us and taking the time to engage with our form of art. It matters. You matter.
(shared with LOVE + GRATITUDE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)
“People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”
Mother Teresa
This picture was taken in July 2011, Dad asked me to teach him how to use Twitter. He always had a passion for technology (and Starbucks). As a doctor, things such as pagers, cell phones (he had one of the first big clunky ones), and online medical research databases helped him save lives. He also believed so much in the power of social and digital platforms for connecting people and was part of creating one of the first online communities for people in addiction recovery.
This super cool handsome picture of Dad was taken in October 1966, the month and year I was born. I love this photo and am fascinated that we have taken to Instagram to get the look and feel of “old school” photography. Awesome.
My Dad and I also shared a passion for music. For Fathers Day last year, he asked me to make him a Lady Gaga CD. He had read about her in The Economist and Wall Street Journal online. At 74 years old, my Dad, the coolest guy on the planet, was asking for a Lady Gaga CD. I made many CD’s for my Dad, but this one was extra special, and I had no idea at the time it would be the last CD I ever made for him. He wrote me an e-mail after listening to it which said: “Born this Way, what a beautiful message. I think I’m becoming a little old monster”. He even shared his new found love of Gaga with his fellow doctors.
On December 12, 2011, my Dad went to heaven and the world lost the greatest man I have ever known. I miss my Dad so much today, I miss him everyday. He was the best Dad in the world, so kind, compassionate, smart and funny. He was also so excited and supportive of Passion Squared, and even though he never got the chance to see us launch, I know how proud he would be of the work we are doing.
A special shout out of love and immense thanks to my partner in passion Gordon Miller for standing by my side through these incredibly difficult 6 months and for allowing me to honor my Dad today on our blog. I heart you Gordon, infinity and beyond.
Wishing all of the beautiful and awesome Dad’s a very Happy Fathers Day.
