As I’ve gotten older in life, and people have come into it who I would die for, I’ve begun to see the same life a bit differently.
Whereas before I’ve admittedly been a bit of an ass when it comes to going after something I disagree with, now I try to see the alternative. Doesn’t always work, mind you – but I try.
Along with that change in mindset is a determination to do more than just sharing words. Instead, I want to try and make a difference, either personally or part of a bigger picture.
It’s one of the reasons I am proud to be a co-founder of the important work being done by The Friendship Bench. And it’s a key reason behind my latest project, UNFUCD.
What is UNFUCD?
UNFUCD has been on my mind a while now, but it’s only now that it’s come to fruition, after a nice play on words by Brian Driggs in the comments after my last post.
Inspired by the likes of the Pay It Forward movement and others like it, the goal of UNFUCD is simple, and is the tagline of the project itself:
Creating happiness one day at a time.
From the UNFUCD website:
There are many reasons this site came to be.
The way of the world, the decline in humanity, the hate, and vitriol being spewed online in the name of free speech masquerading as ignorant fear.
But in all honesty, UNFUCD?came about for one main reason:
When the world seems fucked up, it?s often because media outlets and publications share only the negative because that?s what sells.
We?re here to undo that.
Scroll through your Facebook feed (especially if you have a good few American friends) and you’d be forgiven for thinking the world is going to hell to hell in a handbasket.
And, in many ways, it is.
You have a political party whose leader seems hellbent on dividing a great nation. You have a party faithful who seem oblivious to the danger he presents.
Moving away from that, you have race relations between police and citizens of colour at a perilous impasse. You have gun control arguments spiraling?out of control as more deaths occur and little is done.
And it’s not just America.
Across the globe, you see almost weekly terrorist attacks. You see women burned alive for daring to marry someone outside their religion. You see misogyny, violence, murder, bigotry, hatred and more come to the fore.
So, yes – the world looks like it’s going to shit.
Except it isn’t.
As my friend Ike Pigott mentioned on Facebook recently, this is a skewed perspective because we’re only seeing what the media wants us to see, which tends to be negative stories because that’s what sells.
UNFUCD is the counter to that.
Creating Happiness One Day at a Time
The site will act as the engine behind two connected goals.
- Share articles, videos, social updates and more that highlight all the good in the world. Who’s doing it, what it means to those around them, and how it is in stark contrast to the version being pushed by publications with an agenda.
- Create “missions” for UNFUCD community members to complete in their own towns and cities. These could range from simple things like mow an elderly neighbour’s lawn to taking on a project that inspires a community.
Once these missions are completed, I’ll have a section on the site for the UNFUCD community, where all these original initiatives are promoted with the encouragement to do something similar in your own community.
And that’s just the beginning.
I have a lot of ideas and plans for UNFUCD, all tied around the same central theme – making us better people and, by association, the world a better place for all.
It’s early days, but the feedback received so far would suggest there’s an appetite for this, and people want to get involved in making their own part of the world UNFUCD.
I’d love for you to check the initiative out, and sign up for updates and the latest UNFUCD news and projects. You can also connect with UNFUCD on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and RSS (YouTube will be coming soon).
Thanks, guys – here’s to getting the world UNFUCD.