Pay It Forward Conversation
Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at 1:11PM 
Me, Vance (my mother, who kept the PIFF going for years nearly single-handedly) and Charley Yesterday in Buellton, CA (which is approximately halfway between Los Angeles and the little town of Cambria, where I live) I met up with Charley Johnson in person. I've worked with Charley for years, but I live in Cambria and he lives in Salt Lake City. So it's been email, phone, Skype...everything but sitting down and having an in-person conversation.
If you don't know who Charley is, click on the link on the navigation bar above labeled The Pay It Forward Experience. Charley is the creator and distributor of the Pay It Forward Bracelet. He also created and maintains the Pay It Forward Experience website. And as of January 1st, he's going to be the new president of the Pay It Forward Foundation. Know what that means? Big growth coming our way. Big changes. Because Charley has energy and drive and passion for Pay It Forward like nobody I've ever known (and I know a lot of people with a lot of energy and drive and passion for Pay It Forward). And the guy's getting ready to explode. He's not going to wait another minute before changing the world.
All I can say is, buckle your seat belt, and keep an eye on his site and mine. And if you want to be a part of changing the world, let Charley know. His contact info is on the home page of the Pay It Forward Experience site.
Here's a conversation Charley and I had about changing the world with Pay It Forward. Hopefully it will start a bigger conversation. Please feel free to join in.
Reader Comments (8)
You guys say the most simple and common sensical things...Love you!! PAY IT FORWARD ROCKS!!
Thanks, Mrs. Donney!
It's so heartwarming and so simple and logical, to figure people out sometimes..I bet it burns them up...but most times, they know that you are "ON TO THEM" and deep down in their hearts, they have to admit it, that you were right..! LOL...THANKS FOR MAKING PAY IT FORWARD what it is, and I look forward to what the future holds...COUNT ME IN!!
Amen. That is all. AMEN. Time to wake the world. Kindness WINS.
I agree whole heart with both speakers about, well all of it.
I am following my bliss, and most of my family leer at me with either simmering disappointment or fear (from another state), because 18 months after my asinine net-less leap, I am not yet a world-famous-artist in their definitions... and I am not looking for a stupid job.
I do still look forward to being the cover of ArtNews, but who cares, right? The bliss of doing exactly what I love every day I choose to so, is the absolute best part.
Most important to me is I am following my bliss and what has followed me, frankly, is the bliss. Who gives a shit about money? I am very happy, and I am pretty sure there is no difference to my brain.
I get the same rush of warm happiness when I extend what I have always called common courtesy; but without asking the recipient to think about pushing that along to someone else. Pay it Forward is the most brilliant modern interpretation of karma today, so simple, and so profound. so tao.
thank you.
-RawfeyL
The point of having money, as best I can figure, Deborah, is that it's supposed to make us happy. Assure a good life. If we are already happy and enjoying a good life, seems we have cut out the middle man. Besides, 18 months isn't very long. Do what you love and the money will follow. I truly believe that.
Back in 1989, I left a religious cult that was ruining my life. Then in 1993, I started a business that was very successful on the surface, yet changed me in many bad ways. My business allowed me the finer things in life but at the same time, made me something I am very much ashamed of today. What I mean by that is I turned into a complete douche bag and didn't even know it.
Looking back on it today, I was clearly a judgmental jerk that looked down on others who didn't have what I did. Here's a small example of what I mean. When I was 28, I was driving my convertible sports car and stopped at a red light next to a 40-ish year old man in a rusted out Chevy Nova. I found myself looking down on that man for "waisting his life". I never said anything to that man (thank God), but I sure thought plenty of him. In my mind that guy must have been lazy, week, unmotivated, or possibly even a drug addict,
The next thing through my mind was picturing myself at his age. A mansion, a super hot wife, and many, many exotic cars to say the least. Then in November of 1995, I was involved in a car accident that changed my life forever. This accident made me think I was going to be paralyzed for the rest of my life. I went through nearly every emotion possible, most of which were negative emotions (because of what I had become). I was immobile and wasn't able to work, so my Aunt JoAn loaned me $5000.00 to close out the lease on the building I was in. I can't thank her enough, even to this day. I spent the next 9 months in traction up at the University of Utah.
And during that 9 months, I truly got to know who I was and what I'd become (and didn't like it). The day of my accident, I secretly made a pact with God in which I would help people if he'd let me walk again. It turns out my nerves got pinched rather than the spinal injury I thought I had. I was walking before I knew it but more importantly, I was a changed man. Since that day, I have made it my passion to help others and have been doing so.
Then a few years later, "Pay it Forward" came out and something clicked in my mind. That movie put a name on the way I was living, and the possibility of others doing the same just gave me the chills. This "movement" has changed my life in ways I'll never be able to explain. Today I am a very humble man who is thankful to be walking on my own two legs. I am also a man who will NEVER stop paying it forward. That message (as simple as it is) is so profound and can be "the change" we all need in life. I have kept the words "pay it forward" on the back glass of my cars since 2007. I have since sold my Dodge Viper, my Chevy Corvette, and My Mustang Cobra (all of which had those words on the back glass). I am proud to say that "Paying it Forward" has become my life's goal. I donate to others on a regular basis because I can. I also choose not to judge ANYONE, regardless of their situation because I do not know what put them in that position. But best of all, I have become one of the "pay it forward" pushers without even knowing there was a real movement. I stumbled across this site today and started bawling my eyes out. This bracelet idea is genious and I hope and pray that we can reach all 6.9 billion. Pay it Forward is a way of life, I live it and am very much proud of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bryan, have you spoken to (or even heard about) Charley Johnson? Check out the Pay It Forward Experience ink above, or go straight to http://www.pifexperience.org/ where Charley has his contact email posted. So I know he wouldn't mind my re-posting it here: charley@pifexperience.org . Talk to him. I think he'd love to hear from you.