Month: September 2012

We did it!

Posted on by Sarah K Peck

They say a picture is worth a thousand words…
Swimming Alcatraz Saturday, September 22, 2012

We did it.

$29,382 raised, one chilly swim, and the best birthday present I could ever ask for: clean water for more than 1400 people.

We had more than 400 people donate, over 100 people showed up to the party, and another 50+ companies and individuals donated time, prizes, and energy. This was not the action of a single individual. You all made this happen. Thank you for helping me making it rain: we raised nearly 30K for charity: water in just under three months.

And on Saturday morning, September 22nd, 2012: I woke up at 5 AM, got into a boat with my friends Andi, Alyssa, Laura and my mom, and, as promised, dropped into the cold water at 6:45 AM to swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco wearing nothing but my birthday suit and a swim cap (scroll down for pictures…).

I’ve learned so much, and gained so much, and I hope you all have enjoyed this as much as I have.

To be honest, I’ll be sleeping for the next few days–as well as catching up on work, because even though my company was amazing about letting me take time off last week (they were excited about the swim, too!), now I’ve got to get back and make sure to keep doing the work.

And right now, all I can think is this:

“No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”
–Edmund Burke

This happened not from one person, but from the collective action of many hands–from all of YOU. For everyone that donated $5, $10, $29, and $100: thank you.

To the incredible donors that pitched in $290, $1000, and even $2900 because they could afford to and wanted to: bless you.

Thank you.

Show up.

Posted on by Sarah K Peck

Show up.

Every day, or as often as needs to be done.

Figure out the schedule. Perhaps it’s once a week.

It’s not about extremes. It’s not about doing a magnanimous or extraordinary thing on one singular day, or in one moment.

It’s the accumulation of micro-actions.

It’s about consistency.

It’s about showing up, even when things aren’t perfect, even when you’re not sure, even when you’re scared.

Show up.

It’s doing something, even a little bit at a time. Maybe a 10-minute walk during lunch, or a 30-minute light walk, rather than a run. But you’re doing it. You’re doing something, not nothing.

Today.

Show up.

Do it.

Posted on by Sarah K Peck

If I’ve seemed a bit quiet in these parts lately, it’s because I’ve been doing a lot of writing in other parts of the interwebs, and I’d love to share them with you. Check out a few of these features:

  • Homework, for Julien’s website In Over Your Head: On Breathing. “My relationship with breathing has always been tenuous: when I was eleven, I was diagnosed with asthma. I learned my lungs were restricting my airways—and it would jump on me like a sudden cold, onset in minutes, causing breathing to be painful.”
  • From the Everest blog: If You’re Told No, Do It Anyway. “There are always stories you can tell for why you didn’t do something, or why you couldn’t do something. There are a hundred ways to not be happy—your job is to keep trying until you find the way that works. There will always be a story you can tell in place of the story you really wish you were telling.”

And an update on the Charity: Water campaign — we’re at $17,346 and steadily growing! If we can get to over $22,000 before next week’s party, we can probably tip the scales towards reaching our goal. I’d love to swim by September 22 or 23 (a little less than two weeks!) before the water starts to drop temperature quickly. Think we can do it? If you’ve been thinking about donating, I could really use your help right about now!

And a quick note on getting things done. It’s pretty simple.

You have to do it. 

 

 

Let’s Make It Rain. And You’re Invited.

Posted on by Sarah K Peck

How far would you go for clean water?
(All images in this post from Charity:Water’s 2010 Haiti trip.)

Updates to the Birthday Swim Campaign!

I’ve got some pretty good news. So exciting, I can barely stand it.  Six weeks ago we set out to raise $29,000 for my 29th birthday Charity: Water birthday fundraiser. Did I think I could do it? Um, No. I had no idea if I could do it, and I wondered whether we’d be able to raise even raise $290.

It was pretty nerve-wracking. I made a big statement: I said I’d swim naked from Alcatraz to San Francisco–if we raised the sum total of 29 big thousands.

So where are we today, six weeks later? Continue reading “Let’s Make It Rain. And You’re Invited.”