This is a bold statement, I know, but hear me out.

Before I was invited to develop curriculum at the Academy of Art’s (AAU) Multimedia Department and the University of San Francisco, I too believed that many young folks were apathetic, entitled and not in touch with reality.

Boy, was I wrong. Or as my students would say, “You got moded.”

Reality Check #1:
A few years ago, I was given the rare opportunity to build and teach a high school summer bridge program at AAU. I thought that my students would be excited to execute the final I had prepared. “You are going to create a short video on ‘hot spots’ in San Francisco. It could be a cool place to hang out, shop or eat.” I instructed in a sure tone of voice. I thought hands down, students would be stoked.

Instead, hands eagerly went up. The questions they asked changed the trajectory of my stereotypes toward the youth.

One student raised her hand and said, “My mom was so excited that you were teaching us because she follows Go Inspire Go (my nonprofit) on social media.” Another student said, “Yeah my friends follow you on Twitter in Sweden. A third student said her friends who live in the Midwest follow our stories. Their collective wish: “Can we do our video on a story for GIG and if it’s good enough, would you post it? My heart skipped a beat. Chills ran from head to my feet.

I was taken aback.

Julian Cohen, a high school junior from Jersey City, N.J., saw an article in his local newspaper about a reverend who wanted to build a high school in Grande Saline, Haiti, following the devastating earthquake in 2010. Cohen was sad that there was no high school in Grande Saline and was inspired to make a video to engage action. This led to two youth movements that eventually sent 32 kids to school for one year in Haiti.

This led me to create a GIG program called GIG Spark, Lesson on Compassion. Students think about a problem and how they could be part of the solution. They create a short 90 second video and send it to us to multiply their message.

Reality Check #2:
I’m exited to announce that Go Inspire Go partnered up with The Bayview Hunters Point YMCA, YouTube, the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation and National Youth Radio to create GIG Sparks with youth at the Bayview Hunters Point YMCA. They wanted to make videos that inspire compassion, change and a shift in perspective.

If you watch the local media here in the San Francisco Bay Area, you’d think that this area is only known for its crime, violence and destitution. I found that there was so much hope for the youth living in this area of the City.

When I spent an afternoon training six of these young YMCA change makers, I was filled with pride. Kier Wilson, Tajae Hill, and Jonkia Davis were amazingly inspiring. They were so proud to call the Bayview Hunters Point their home, but were deeply saddened their neighborhood is viewed as “the ghetto.” They wanted to do something to change the negative perception of their community.

Thank you to YouTube and the Mayor’s office for inviting us to share our “GIG Spark” as an innovative, organized and fun way to inspire the YMCA kids to accomplish this mission.

* This video was created by four of my students at AAU — youth — who asked to come along on the shoot. Thanks Oscar Nilsson, Marcus Pettersson, Eva Broman and Hugo Albrektsson for your great work!

Reality Check #3:
At the University of San Francisco, my alma mater, I was asked to design and teach a Blogging for Social Change course. On the first day, I asked students, “What is your passion?”

With optimism and determination, one student said, “I want people to get out of their bubble and do something to help the people in their community.”

‘Nuff said! Amen to that.

As a kid, I felt insignificant. I thought I didn’t matter. I didn’t feel like I had a voice. What would a Chinese immigrant boy, growing up in a rough South Sacramento neighborhood, say of any importance? Why would anyone care?

I wonder how many youth feel like that today. What if adults took a moment to listen to the youngsters in their lives and hear them out. With a little guidance, support and inspiration, we too could be a part of inspiring a new generation of people who teach what they learn and give what they get!

Take Action:
* Check out “I LOVE Bayview” on Improve SF!
* Share their stories on social media and by word of mouth.
* Volunteer at your local YMCA

Follow us @GoInspireGo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube

The post Why YOUth Matter — Changing Your Perspective of HOME & Bayview appeared first on Go Inspire Go.

This blog post and Go Inspire Go (GIG) video is for everyone — especially the youth, who don’t think their story matters.

Every story matters in how it moves you, changes your perspective and inspires you. As a journalist with over ten years of experience, I’ve interviewed thousands of people. Time and time again, I was shocked to hear that many interviewees didn’t believe their story mattered.

Why do people think their story is irrelevant? I believe that everybody’s story matters. Likewise, our hearts and minds can change as we learn about other people’s stories.

People like Jow Way, an immigrant single Chinese mother who raised two kids by herself in the housing projects of New York. She didn’t speak English, worked several day jobs, including hard labor jobs in a sweat shop environment, laundromat and pizzeria. She also made jewelry at home for a wholesaler and eventually worked her way up to a receptionist job at a doctor’s office. Following her passion for fashion, Way eventually opened up her own clothing business, bought a house (outside of the ghetto) and raised two educated children.

Way is Villy Wang’s mom. Wang is the CEO and founder — or as I like to call the “Head CAT” — of BAYCAT, a San Francisco-based nonprofit social enterprise that educates, inspires and employs underserved youth in the digital media arts.

Wang still gets emotional when she speaks about her mother, “She inspired me to be a banker and lawyer on Wall Street and did the best she could, yet till this day she doesn’t feel like what she did as a single mother raising two kids, not speaking the language, opening up a biz [is a big deal]. She still thinks her story is irrelevant.”

Feel inspired as you learn about Villy Wang, who went from working in a sweatshop and living in the New York projects to achieving her dreams as a Wall Street banker and lawyer. Find out why she left a big job title and paycheck to start BAYCAT.

What I love most about BAYCAT is that the kids not only learn multimedia tools; they also learn responsibility and self worth with every video and film project. I have seen many kids like Lamar Turner mature as they went through the program. Lamar and others are now giving back and have become ambassadors — mentoring the newcomers.

I first met Villy at the Bank of America Local Hero Awards where I was a 2011 recipient and she was a recipient from the year before. I knew we were kindred spirits. After a few follow-up meetings to discuss how my nonprofit, GIG and BAYCAT could join forces with our GIG Spark (Lesson on Compassion) Program, I realized we shared similar stories.

My mother, Tran Lam also does not believe her story is relevant. My parents had a successful business in Vietnam, but in the late ’70s, when the communists took over, she and my Dad gave up everything they worked for to bring their five children and a few other relatives to America for “opportunity.” They ended up with $4 in their pockets in Sacramento, Calif., in a trailer — yes there were 10 of us crammed in one trailer.

“We were happy, we were all together, safe and you had a future,” my immigrant mother reminisces with a smile. My mother speaks six languages, raised five successful children, yet she still says things like, “I’m glad my children are smart and independent like their Dad.”

I still don’t think my Mom knows how much of an impact she’s made on my life – and that the inspiration I’m trying to spark around the world with GIG started, in part, to her strength, incredible endurance and survival skills. I hope that she and Jow Way will one day comprehend how their undying love, relentless spirit and search for a better opportunity continues to ripple out through BAYCAT, GIG and by people like you, who are reading, sharing their stories and using your power to help others.

As you saw in the video, the story-telling was disrupted when BAYCAT was recently burglarized and thieves sole more than $50,000 worth of laptops. The kids got over the shock and sadness quickly went back to work and kicked off a “$50K in 50 days” Indiegogo campaign to replace the laptops. Values and actions like these can be traced back to Jow Way’s impact on Wang and Wang’s impact on the BAYCAT kids.

Join me in raising my computer “mouse” to Jow Way, Tran and everyone out there — especially the youth that don’t think their stories matters.

You matter. You do.

Please share a story in the comments section below that inspired you!

Take Action:

1. Watch their Indiegogo campaign to raise “$50K in 50 Days” and contribute what you can.
2. Follow @BAYCAT on Twitter and BAYCAT on Facebook.
3. Get to know someone’s story in your community and share it. WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Want more inspiration?

Follow us @GoInspireGo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube

The post From New York Sweatshop to Wall St. Banker & Lawyer to BAYCAT CEO appeared first on Go Inspire Go.

To teachers, parents and everyone dealing with a seemingly difficult youth in your life — please listen up. The youth need you.

You have the power to change the trajectory of a young person’s life.

I believe that everyone we encounter is brought here to teach us something, a life lesson. Recently a student, whom I will call “Jeff,” taught me one of the most important lessons in my professional teaching career. Jeff was one of my most apathetic students I’ve ever encountered in my teaching career. He was frequently tardy, turned in several late and missing assignments (I don’t accept late assignments) and when called upon, his answers clearly showed that he wasn’t paying attention.

I like to think that I’m a compassionate person and give people the benefit of the doubt most of the time — so I tried to get to the root of the problem by having three heart-to-heart conversations. I wanted to give up after our “Come to Jesus convo No. 4.” I couldn’t seem to break through.

I was torn, do I focus on the students who always show their “A-game” and let Jeff fall even further behind? How do I help someone who seems to not want to help himself?

It was time to meet with my department director and his coach (he is on an athletic scholarship). We told him about the opportunity he is receiving, scholarships, a great education with passionate teachers who are working in the real world and multimedia tools galore.

Turns out, Jeff grew up in a rough neighborhood, had no one to look up to (until college) and essentially, no one took the time to listen to him. No one ever told him that he matters.

We shared stories about how we once got off track — and how we realized that if we didn’t address the problem, it would come back disguised in different ways, shapes, forms, people and situations.

We got him on a “plan to get back on track.” And every week he delivered — and then some. He was more attentive in class, his work improved and he was engaged. The last class was monumental. Several students clapped. “Wow, you’ve improved so much. You should get an award for most improved,” a classmate said enthusiastically.

At the end of class, Jeff shook my hand and said, “Mr. Toan, thank you for not giving up on me. Everyone in my life has given up on me, except you. Thank you. I will promise to be better.” My body tingled with chills. Holding back tears I said, “You’re welcome, you have a lot of potential, I don’t want to see you waste it. You are capable of greatness, don’t give up on yourself.”

I often think of students and other kids like Jeff. What would they do, who would they be, if they were given the proper care, time and compassion?

Unfortunately, our youth face many challenges. Some are bullied, neglected or in this case, no one told Jeff, “I see you. I hear you. You matter.”

For others, violence and crime have become the norm for too many kids. It’s the everyday reality for students I recently met at BAYCAT, a wonderful organization that serves youth in the Bayview and Hunter’s Point neighborhoods — the roughest neighborhoods in San Francisco.

BAYCAT trains these talented, bright and eager-to-learn students multimedia/film tools and helps place them in production jobs.

As a multimedia teacher, I realized many of my students and the youth do want to be a part of something positive. They do want to help others. They just don’t know how.

That’s why Go Inspire Go (GIG) created the “GIG Spark,” A Lesson on Compassion” program. In an easy to follow lesson plan, kids can create short video stories told through their experiences. The goal is to use storytelling and social media to build community and spark civic engagement/action.

I was so excited when I was invited to speak to this group of incredibly talented, creative and intelligent students.

When I asked the kids how they felt about the rampant violence they see everyday, 15-year-old Christopher Vanegas innocently answered, “It’s normal.”

My heart sank.

Before BAYCAT, these kids who had no mentors and no hope. This is where you teachers can provide added value by joining GIG to make HUGE a difference.

Why we created the GIG Spark program:

1. Kids creatively take ownership by identifying a problem in their neighborhood/community.

2. Kids take action by immersing themselves in the change they want to spark. The lesson plan includes how to produce a 90-second video, documenting the action they’d like to see happen and to be the change.

3. We take action by sharing the message on a global platform.

One thing I love about teaching is that I learn as much from the students as they learn from me.

The youth care more than we think. Just ask Lily Gordon, who at age 11, asked for money in lieu of gifts, to fund her trip to Africa to teach the local Tanzanian women how build a brick oven so they can cook their own bread.

My former student Julian Cohen created a GIG video with the intention of helping a reverend build a high school in Haiti. The video inspired and galvanized a youth orchestra winter benefit concert, which led another class creating a PSA. In the end, 30+ students in Haiti are going to school this year because of Julian’s original video.

This is where we need your help.

If you’re an educator, or a part of a youth organization, I am inviting/challenging you to join this movement. If you’re interested in bringing the GIG Spark program into your class, please contact us at info@goinspirego.com.

Please share this blog with a young person in your life.

We need to take action. We need to act now. The youth in your life do matter. They are our future.

What can YOU do?

Take Action

1. Share this message

2. Join our movement, connect with us @GoInspireGo via Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube

3. Do something: Spark change using your power/talents/network — and let us know — we may share the inspiration with our global audience.

The post GIG SPARK: Help Inspire Compassion in Youth appeared first on Go Inspire Go.

How many of you are guilty of being on your phone/iPad/computer when you shouldn’t? It’s hard to resist overworking and social media madness because when you do something that you absolutely love — your passion work — it doesn’t feel like work. I just want to climb Mount Kilamanjaro and yell, “Go Inspire Go (GIG).”

One of my best friends, Yasmine Farazian made me realize that I was becoming a workaholic. She single-highhandedly inspired me to unplug and be more present by forcing me to get off my computer. Literally. One day, I had Yasmine and few friends over for dinner. It was about 7 p.m. and I was still plugging away on my computer. She said, “No more. You’re always working.” And she politely, but firmly, pushed my MacBook screen closed with her perfectly painted pretty phalanges.

Since then, I’ve tried — operative word being “tried” — to consciously be as present as possible when doing my GIG work. I don’t always succeed, but I try. I live in San Francisco, one of the most postcard(esque) places in the world. Everywhere you turn, there’s what I like to call a “postcard-worthy” snapshot. I try not to be on my cell phone, checking emails or Facebook. I admit, I fail miserably when there’s a scene or shot I want to share with the world through my lens via Instagram. (That’s excusable right? After all, like my Momma told me, “Sharing is caring!”)

So in the spirit of being present while going to and fro, I want to introduce our latest GIG Spark. Melissa Cheng produced our latest Go Inspire Go’s GIG Spark (Youth Lesson on Compassion Program) in San Francisco. Her goal: To inspire you to be more conscious, present and aware of the beauty that surrounds you.

So please remember: It only takes a few seconds everyday to stop, take a mental snapshot of something beautiful that surrounds you and be grateful. You will be mentally, physically and spiritually thankful you did. Don’t have any images that inspire you? Check out my Instagram & Pinterest posts for some beautiful pictures that inspire me!

We hope this video inspires you to do something nice for someone in need in your community in the next 24 hours.

Gigster: Melissa Cheng
Where: San Francisco
Spark: Stop and enjoy the beauty that surrounds you
Your Turn: What thoughtful deed can you do to help others in need? Do it and share with us. We may just share your GIG SPARK video with the world!

FEELING INSPIRED? Make your own GIG SPARK.

As part of GIG’s mission to inspire our viewers to discover their power, we developed GIG Spark: A Lesson on Compassion. The goal is to spark action in everyone that witnesses your good deed. We want you to identify a problem in your community and be the change by capturing your action in a short 1-1:30 minute video. Use your passion and creativity to produce a GIG Spark and inspire viewers with your story! What can YOU do?

* Follow us on: LinkedIn, Twitter & Facebook

The post GIG Spark: One Thing YOU Must Do Daily for YOUR Mental & Spiritual Health appeared first on Go Inspire Go.

Kevin hit the busy streets of downtown San Francisco with one mission: To spread the love. How? By simply giving flowers to strangers.

Hope this video makes you smile, count your blessings — things in your life that make you feel love — and of course sparks a fire inside you to do what you can to make someone else feel loved.

Love this! Hope you do too…

Gigster: Kevin Schow
Where: San Francisco
Spark: Spreading the LOVE in San Francisco
Your Turn: It’s simple — think about a thoughtful deed and take action.

FEELING INSPIRED? GET INVOLVED! Make your own GIG Spark.

WHAT’S A GIG Spark & CREATE your own!

As a part of GoInspireGo’s mission to inspire our viewers to discover their power, we’ve joined forces with Youth Service America (YSA), Lil’ MDGs and Miley Cyrus’ “Get Ur Good On” to bring you GIG Spark: A Lesson on Compassion.

A “GIG Spark” is a short 1-1:30 minute video that inspires viewers to take action and help others after they’ve watched the video. The video will feature you showing and telling viewers what you want them to do on video. It’s simple, quick and can generate inspiration for others! The goal: a fun, easy way to inspire action.

We’re inviting YOU and your community (school, organization, friends, etc.) to use your passion and creativity to produce a “GIG Spark” and inspire viewers with your story. This is for anyone who can shoot and edit short videos. Get Started on a GIG Spark now.

Inspiration can be fun and infectious! We believe in the power of small acts and using technology to crowdsource ideas, capture it on video, spread the word online, and inspire immediate action. We know that people (especially youth) care and want to do something good for others, but just don’t know how. So why not teach compassion to kids and adults in your life? This is a quick way for you to use your power to spark civic engagement and inspire a small ripple of kindness that will create a domino effect…

We can’t wait to see inspiring acts popping up all over the state, country, and world! What can YOU do?

* Follow us on: LinkedIn, Twitter & Facebook

The post GIG SPARK: Spreading the LOVE is Easier Than You Think appeared first on Go Inspire Go.

Sometimes I simply quote “The Wizard of Oz”: “You’ve always had the power … (to go back to Kansas),” said Glinda the Good Witch.

This simple reinforcing quote applies to all of us. We’ve always had the power to live better, be better and then do better for others.

For everyone who has ever asked me (or yourself) or doubted the ability to make a positive impact — no matter what socioeconomic background, gender, creed — just watch this video and meet Claire Lemmel, someone who instantly puts a smile on your face and who has discovered the true meaning of joy. Smile….

You’re probably grinning from ear to ear after watching this video. That’s good because if you are, it’s already benefiting your health. Many studies, including one from the University of California, Berkeley shows that simply smiling boosts the immune system, increases positive effect, reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, enhances other people’s perception of you — plus it’s easy, fun and contagious.

According to Positive Psychology News Daily: “The eyes and lips are a powerful weapon that everyone is equipped with at birth. When used for good, this weapon can exert a significant amount of health and happiness on the smiler and recipient. So become the center of a positive change ripple. Squeeze your zigomatic major, squint your orbicularis oculi, and if you really want to get things flowing … expose your teeth.”

So share this video with your frowny friends, smile with “what yo’ momma gave you.”

I believe I’ve found one answer to the common question, “I don’t know how I can help others. What can I do?” Witness Claire’s joy and listen to Glinda. And simply start smiling. Discover your own yellow brick road and think about what you can do to make someone smile today. Onward!

* Special Thanks: Megan Wegmann for your amazing energy & help with the videography

The post Going the Extra Smile: Project Connects World Through Grins appeared first on Go Inspire Go.

Every Tuesday afternoon you can hear the wheels of Herman Travis’ shopping cart clacking against the cracked, sloped sidewalks of San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood — an annoying sound for any passerby. But for many residents in this low-income community the sound is heavenly — their angel, 50-year-old Travis.

“It makes me feel good, seeing them smile when I knock on their door, it just makes me feel good,” Travis said humbly.

Travis is the lifeline for many of those who depend on him to eat.

With a cheery disposition, he delivers food to 60 neighbors who eagerly wait for Travis’ visit. Many recipients are elderly and disabled. Getting out of the house to pick up food from the San Francisco Food Bank and pantries is nearly impossible.

So Travis brings the food to them.

“It means a lot to me, as a senior. I can’t get out. I’m sort of confined to my house. It’s just a blessing, a blessing, something you can depend on, Herman’s always there with a smile,” recipient Millie Sheehy said.

Travis partnered up with the S.F. Food Bank to make this do-good deed possible. For the past three years, a truck drops off 1,300 pounds of food at the Holly Courts low-income housing complex where he lives. A handful of volunteers help Travis sort and pack brown paper grocery bags. He loads his cart and off he goes, on his three-hour mission to feed his neighbors.

“I don’t know how we would express it, except for saying that we would be completely lost without him,” Bebe Castaine, 81, said.

But besides feeding their stomachs, he also feeds their spirits. Everyone who answers the door beams with excitement, the smiles overflow.

“He spoils me rotten by coming to my door. And he’s always positive, he’s always got something nice to say. So I enjoy him,” said 93-year-old Millie Sheehy, who smiles wide and giggles like a schoolgirl when her “No. 1” drops by.

Travis knows the stories behind every drop off. The rapport, trust and loyalty are unique as they are special.

Knock. Knock. Knock. No answer. “Her mother’s been gone for a while, her mother died,” Travis explained with a deep, melancholy breath.

He takes a moment to catch his breath and shake the sadness, then heads up the steep sidewalk to the next visit.

On the way to the next delivery, Travis, shared that he also has a lot to be grateful for. “I’m glad I’m healthy enough to do this,” he said in gratitude. This neighborhood angel has been unemployed for the past few months. His construction work dried up. Now he is applying for general assistance. He too depends on the food bank to get by.

It started when “I didn’t have no work,” he said fervently. “I’m paying back because they helped me, so I’m paying back, that’s what any human being should do. Pay back what people give you.”

Travis says he hopes others will do the same — give the gift of goodwill.

“It makes me feel good, seeing them smile when I knock on their door, it just makes me feel good,” Travis admitted emphatically.

For now, Travis said, he’ll continue to stay positive and that he’ll jump at the chance of any job when it comes around. While the future is uncertain for this neighborhood angel, one thing is clear — his current job, which doesn’t grant him a paycheck, is a job that feeds his soul.

What can YOU do this holiday season and in 2011 to help a family member, friend or stranger? You have more power than you may think.

Onward!

The post Paying it Back: Unemployed Man Lifeline to 60 Neighbors appeared first on Go Inspire Go.

Take a close look at the photo of the young lady on my blog — her name is Phoebe Russell. Although I’ve had some amazing teachers in my more than three decades on this earth, I can truly say that Miss Russell is the best teacher I’ve ever had when it comes to the true meaning of “service.” No, nothing is wrong with your eyes and no, this is not a picture of her from way back when she was youthful. Phoebe is 6-years-old. Since meeting her last year, she has taught me a lot about life and about fitting into this world as an “adult.”

I met Phoebe when she was 5-years-old through our friends at the San Francisco Food Bank. I created this video for my inspirational website GoInspireGo.com on her project to feed the hungry.

Phoebe’s mother told me in a way that made me feel humble, “There’s always little things that we can do in our daily life that makes a huge difference for other people. The project started off as a small thing. Phoebe’s taught me, you got to just do it.” That’s when I realized how deep Phoebe’s wisdom was, even at this tender age.

While on the way to school, she saw some homeless people on the street. She became curious. “I was sad,” she told me in timid voice. So she did what kids are good at — she asked questions — which led to a movement that, to this date, has fed about 120,000 people in her community.

“Why do they look so sad?” she inquired inquisitively. “And how do we help them?” Her parents explained that the food bank helps feed hungry people. She became determined to raise money for the food bank by collecting cans, recycling them and cashing them in for money.

Phoebe innocently told me, “It makes me sad because they have no food and shelter. Me my dad and sister would go to whole foods… we would have this big bag of cans and we would turn them in to get money, so I wanted to collect cans.”

With the help of her preschool teacher, Phoebe reached out to her network — during recess, she hand wrote, signed and sent letters to family and friends. Her goal was ambitious — you might say impossible — for a 5-year-old, but then again what do grown-ups know anyway?

To say the project gained momentum is an understatement.

Family, friends, the media shared her story… which led to a ripple effect of giving. Within two months, Phoebe raised $3,736.30. According to the S.F. Food Bank, that’s enough to feed nearly 18,000 people.

The news gets better.

I featured Phoebe’s video on GoInspireGo.com and it went viral immediately, with more than 26,000 viewers from all corners of the world. YouTube comments and emails poured in. Parents, churches and other community groups contacted our team to say they were sharing our blog and video with their children (as bedtime stories) and during sermons and meetings. I could see a shift happening — people were inspired by Phoebe’s actions to act.

Fast-forward six months.

I received an email from Gayle Keck, a media manager at the S.F. Food Bank. The total from Phoebe’s project: $20,202!” That’s enough to feed 90,000 people.

Get ready to keep on smiling… yes, this story does get better.

Go Inspire Go submitted the video to Tyson Foods Hunger Relief Challenge. Phoebe became the “Tyson Hunger All-Star.” A title that comes with a donation of 15 tons of chicken!

That means the S.F. Food Bank is able to feed 120,000 people in the community.

Wow!

This isn’t just a civics lesson to her peers; Phoebe taught us big kids a thing or two, as well.

Tyson’s Ed Nicholson said in his 15-years with the company, Phoebe is the one who left a life-long lasting impression on him. “This is to recognize unlikely people in unlikely places doing extraordinary things. I think Phoebe is one of the most unlikely we’ve run across and perhaps doing one of the most extraordinary things,” Nicholson said, in a voice with so much excitement, I thought he had won the contest.

Paul Ash, executive director of the S.F. Food Bank, was blown away, too. He told me, “We’ve never had someone this young do this much. We certainly have volunteers, come in with parents, but no one so young who moved something along so independently and with such great results.

Little Phoebe taught me some big lessons in life as well.

First off, you don’t have to be rich, famous or even experienced (that’s my nice way of saying old) to give back. Small acts of kindness matter in a big way. It’s amazing to see Phoebe in her “zone” and working in the spirit of service, with only one goal: to help others.

I also learned to unlearn things that we’re told constantly as we “get older.” Just over a year ago, I started my Go Inspire Go project. My mission was to set up a global platform for people to see and share inspiring stories. My vision is for viewers to be inspired to use their own resources and talents to help others.

Along the way, we’ve inspired and empowered people to help those featured through our call to action. (There are links at the end of every story on how they could be a part of the change.)

More than once, I almost put the project on pause because I was constantly inundated with people asking me, “You’re doing what? Okaaay,” and “How are you going to monetize this?” “You need to have a business plan, now.”

I admit, there were times when I felt like giving up. But people sent story ideas my way…which touched the journalist in me. (My parents wanted me to nix the journalism thing and become a doctor — but what old-school Asian parent doesn’t want their children to wear scrubs and make more moola?) That’s when I just started doing what I knew best — connect, inspire and empower people through my stories, which led to the vision of my project.

More than a year later, I am still humbled, amazed and intrigued by the fact that children like Phoebe are uninhibited and just take risks. As you see in the first video link above, kids dance shamelessly, freely and unabashed. Kids believe they’re artists, singers and astronauts.

But what happens to us when we get older?

Aren’t we supposed to get wiser? More connected? How many times have people put up roadblocks on the path to your dreams? How many times have you been told, “You want to be an artist?” or “How are you going to pay your bills?” While these are valid questions I had to ask myself every day as I took on this project, I learned to cut back, ask questions and Rubik’s Cube my opportunities to work for me.

I don’t make a lot of money and still work part-time to work on this project, fueled with hope, passion and compassion.

As I sit here at Starbucks and blog, I wonder how many artists, singers and astronauts out there who “could’ve been,” but were thwarted one way or another?

The world is a big place, we are very small. But the opportunities are vast, limitless — and within our reach.

So with no shame, I’m proud to say, I learned a lot from little Phoebe. Even though it took some imagination, a shift in my thinking to see life through the lens of a 5-year-old. Or as Phoebe corrected me recently, “I’m 6-and-a-half!”

Boy, I’ve got a lot to learn!

Related Stories:
–Four Kindergarteners Inspire 135,000 Meals for the Needy
–A Week of Surprises
–Giving a little, gaining A LOT! Feeding Your Spirit this Holiday Season

The post 6-Year-Old Inspires Movement; 120,000+ Meals Served appeared first on Go Inspire Go.