The last time I spoke with and wrote about Kam Atwood of Stockton Springs was in 2007, when she was recruiting more volunteers for the Hermon Mountain Adaptive Ski Program.
Your response to her plea for help was great, by the way, and HMASP is an unqualified success.
This time, I heard about what Kam is up to through a friend of hers who e-mailed me that Kam is attempting to do a good deed, each day, for 365 days and “pass it on,” asking those she assists to follow suit.
Her quest is in the tradition of the “pay it forward” movement, which followed the 2000 release of the Catherine Ryan Hyde book “Pay it Forward” and the movie of the same name.
Kam’s work commute, she told me, is a good time for deep thinking.
“One morning, on my drive to work, I was thinking about the law of moral causation and the karmic energy that surrounded my life,” she said.
Those thoughts led her to the realization that it would be a gratifying, personal experience to offer an act of kindness to another and “pass it on,” each day, for one full year.
Kam has let her Facebook friends know what she is doing and has been extremely pleased with their response.
What she is enjoying about her pass-it-on activities with regard to Facebook, she said, “is having my friends do it themselves.
“It’s the ripple affect that is most exciting to me.”
Kam’s 365-day journey of doing one good deed for another person, each day, and requesting that person do the same, began at 8:40 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 23, at her favorite Dunkin’ Donuts.
In line that day, Kam decided to pay for the person behind her, and asked the cashier to tell that person to pass it on.
Day 2, at the grocery store, Kam saw a small, potted plant on sale for $2.99. She bought it, attached an explanatory note, and left it on a car in the parking lot.
The third day, Kam went to the website www.totallyfreestuff.com and ordered free pet product samples such as treats and toys, which she will donate to Bangor Humane Society.
She also went on the BHS website and, just poking around her home, gathered some items BHS had on its wish list.
Day four, Kam went to a local dog park and picked up what she described as “missed piles and toys,” with the appreciation and understanding any pet owner “can get distracted occasionally.”
Day five, she decided to make it a point to open a door for people and hold the door open while keeping eye contact, smiling and sincerely wishing them a good day.
Day six was one of surprising, personal discovery.
“It was a very busy day, so I really didn’t get a chance to focus on being kind, which was an interesting thing for me,” Kam said.
“It made me realize I have to stay open to that idea and I didn’t that day, so I went online and made a $5 donation to Friends of Feral Felines.”
Day seven was much better.
Dining out that evening, Kam asked the waitress to play along, pick a patron for whom Kam would pay the bill, and ask that patron to pass it on.
It turned out to be that patron’s birthday.
What made that act even more special was the waitress happily returned to Kam’s table and not only shared the patron’s reaction, but told Kam her own paying-it-forward story.
And so it continues. Kam is determined to complete a full year of good deeds, and she hopes many others follow suit.
This idea is not new and, of course, Kam Atwood does not want to be the focus of this effort.
“It’s not that I want people to look at what I’m doing,” she emphasized.
“I want people to join in and see how much fun this is.”
Kam recognizes it takes great focus to do good deeds, especially when you make a conscious decision to do so every day.
I wish her well. I believe she will complete her 365 days of passing it on.
Civility. Manners. Thoughtfulness. Understanding. Compassion. Respect. Tolerance.
Our society seems to be losing its grip on those essential virtues.
What a much nicer world it would be if we all made the attempt, daily, to be kinder to one another.
Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; javerill@bangordailynews.com; 990-8288.