Thank you so much for your interest in the Better World Project. You may have noticed that the last actions posted on the website were back in December of 2005.
In January of 2006, I realized that the Better World Project had become more than I could handle. Just finding the energy and creativity to seek out new, innovative (or at least interesting) actions every day -- regardless of how many hours I had just worked, what time of night it was, what plans I had, or where I was on the road -- was barely possible. Add on the tasks of creating the webpages and recruiting new "members", and the project became a job in itself. Ultimately I could probably have kept it going for longer, but the plain truth is that it was no longer worth the personal sacrifice that I had been making.
I considered scaling back the project -- perhaps taking less frequent action, or posting less on the website -- but decided against it. My exhaustion had overtaken my passion, and I was done.
I wish I could say that the project got me into a rhythm, and that going back to my regular life, I would no longer fall victim to one of the primary principles that motivated the project:
"It is easy to only focus on myself in my daily life. A commitment to take action every day forces me to constantly consider the world around me."
Unfortunately, it is still easy to focus mostly on myself, my work, and those around me. And when I consider the world around me, it is still far too easy to say "I wish things would change" and do nothing about it.
So what did I learn from my experience? I learned that taking many disconnected actions does not fuel my passion for positive change. Instead, I am much more drawn to longer term commitments -- which is one reason I am very happy to have chosen the work that I do.
In the end, the Better World Project lasted for almost 21 weeks -- from 9/12/05 through 2/3/06. I recorded my last seven weeks of actions, though it is unlikely that I will ever post those on the website. I still consider the project to be a success on many levels, not the least of which is that I took over 140 actions that served the world around me, and hopefully inspired a least a few others to take their own actions.
Again, I thank you for your interest in and support of the Better World Project. Your questions and comments are always welcome.
Best,
Kevin Markham
Project founder and webmaster