Welcome to Tuesday's Spotlight!
As I rambled through the blogosphere I have found some wonderful blogs and interesting people. I will be featuring them in the coming weeks.
Today I would like to introduce Gale Langley. I found her blog
suchfuntogive.blogspot and what grabbed my attention was not so much the links to the give aways around the internet but was the information about doing good in the world and the charitable activities. I instantly became a fan and follower. I hope you will too!
Gale, can you tell me what prompted you to start this blog?
I had been entering blog giveaways since stumbling on a blog event called the Bloggy Giveaways about a year before starting the blog. It got me thinking how giveaways could be good ways to spread the word about causes.
Then the CPSIA had been passed and some of the ways that it was hurting small businesses were coming to light. I decided this was the time to start the blog I had been thinking about...one where I could post giveaways to build awareness for causes I cared about, post about ways to give back, and also be a place I could post about other giveaways I wanted to enter and get some extra entries (yeah, there was that selfish aspect too.) So, this blog is an odd mix of selfishness and selflessness--of getting and giving back. Mostly it's become a place to post low entry blog giveaways, giveaways supporting good causes, and to share about ways to give back and do something to help make our world a little better.
And what have you found to be the most difficult part of keeping this blog alive?
Wondering if I should keep it alive. Funny thing is, I started winning a lot of blog giveaways because I figured out how to find giveaways which few people had entered. But I realized that entering all these, while worth my time for the amount I was winning, was causing me to have a very material focus. Giveaways are meant to advertise (generally) and the advertising was working...I was wanting stuff that I really didn't need. I had to take a break for a while and seriously considered shutting the blog down.
And what has been the most rewarding part of keeping this blog alive?
Other than the physically rewarding stuff (which has it's good and bad side, as I mentioned) I think the feedback I've gotten has been the most rewarding.
What has changed inside you since starting?
Other than the struggle with materialism? Some things have changed, but not really because of the blog, really.
Have you discovered any new 'loves'?
Yes! Fair trade products! I always liked the idea of fair trade, but when I discovered how much of the products we buy are produced, at least in part, with slave labor (and I don't just mean poor wages...I mean actual slavery), it made the idea of fair trade so much more important. I mean, it's one thing to buy something that was produced by poorly paid workers...it's another thing in my mind if the product was produced using slaves (not that any company actual goes out and tries to court slave labor, but they go with the lowest bidder and don't check to see what their suppliers are doing, and so slavery happens). I can't say I buy everything fair trade...I can't afford to right now, and even if I could some things just aren't available as fair trade items. But I've been looking for ways to use more fair trade items to support these companies that are checking their supply chain and trying to pay fair wages all down the line.
Have you found that some people cannot get on board with you?
Like the people who submit "low entry" giveaways a month in advance when I specifically ask them to only submit them in they end in 5 days or less?
As far as the causes that I talk about on the blog...there's no way to know who "gets on board" unless they comment, and people don't usually comment to say they're not going to do something. And I wouldn't expect peopel to latch on to every cause that I talk about. Some things will hit some people's heart and lead them to do something, and that's what I hope for.
Has that astonished you or were you certain at the beginning that was going to happen?
No, not astonished at all.
Have you found that some people have actually stepped up to plate and shone through in ways you never thought possible?
Yes. Ivy Twines took up the slavery issue for their monthly give-back after I suggested it, and did just an incredible job. I was really moved by that.
And have others let you down?
No, not really...though I wished that the Give Back at Ivy Twines had gotten more response.
Do you have new pet projects you never knew existed?
Well, up until a few years ago I really thought slavery died with the Civil War...then the past couple years I've learned that it is actually more rampant today than it was then, so that's become my "pet project" I suppose. Haven't done a much yet, really, but I have ideas and some plans to do more.
Gale Langley
http://scribbleprints.blogspot.com/
