Spreading the Love

Most of the things I do, well, I do them in view of a goal. Ergo, work for money and fulfillment/ Bake, write and open small businesses for the high that only life’s passions can bring.

I think most of us are built this way. We do things for our own little selfish reasons. And that’s not bad at all, it is in fact natural.

Sometimes though, we get inspired to do something where we don’t really get anything in return. Except perhaps to spread the love for something.

Which is I think why a good friend of mine began that little project of hers. It began with an innocuous little note in Facebook: BOOKS FOR FREE! Which is basically self-explanatory: she’s giving away her books to friends who want them. And I luckily snagged two titles which I’ll get when I go home to the Philippines in two weeks.

I loved the introduction she placed in her announcement: “Books are destined to travel.” And may I add, that the love for reading is a love that’s worth spreading.

So I am taking my cue and will do my own mini FREE BOOKS event to my FB contacts and online clients once I go home in the Philippines. And true, it will perhaps take a few hours to take stock of the books I’ll be putting out for “adoption” thus snatching hours from my precious two weeks vacation but to my mind it ‘ll be worth it. Books are prohibitively expensive in the Philippines and I am thrilled to do my teeny bit to well, give a few more reading materials to those who also have a hunger for words. Best of all, this little form of “charity” carries no extra expense on my part, just a few hours work! (Books can be picked up at my house or at the shop in Davao or I can even send them via courier with the recipient shouldering the shipping cost which is I think is kabout $1.5 dollar per kg. )

Anyway, it suits me well to give away old titles since I have never held any sentimental value to most books. That is to say, I am not the type who’d keep one after reading it. I tend to agree that it’s better to give a book to someone else to read and benefit from it than keeping it until its pages turn brown. And so I usually sold my old books at my online shop (at bargain prices, I might add, offering them ¼ the price I shelled out for them.) But this time, I’ll give away the books for free. And to be honest about it, it does feels good in a good Samaritan sort of way.

~ o ~ o ~
There are of course titles that I can never part with. These are the hardbound tomes of baking and cooking which I’ve slowly bought for the last three years (slowly, because they are so darn expensive, with most good cookbooks costing 20$ up). These are books that I refer to time and again for inspiration or to learn new techniques in handling food. Plus, to my slightly loony mind, these cookbooks are part of my miniscule estate of prized possessions. (Miniscule, because the only treasures I have which would make me weep if taken away from me are my cookbooks and my Mac. ☺)