Seeing the kindness of 236 people made me want to praise my past self | Pay It Forward Project

The Pay It Forward Tree | This tree could not have grown with just one person.

July 11th.

I participated in the "
Pay It Forward Project" started by LaLaLa-san, and I took the baton as the first runner and started running.

And about two weeks later.

On July 27th, the second baton arrived from Gin-gitsune-san.

I was a little surprised because I didn't expect it to come back to me again 🤭

But after that, I immediately became curious about something else.

"What route did this baton take to get back here?"

From that small curiosity, I started tracing everyone's articles.

Who introduced whom?
Where did it branch off?
Did anyone's routes merge along the way?

At first, I thought about using AI to aggregate it, but
there were mistakes, and in the end, it became an analog task of writing it out one by one with pen and paper.

Half a day melted away in the blink of an eye,
and yet I still couldn't see the end 😓

Before I knew it, it was over 200 people.
I started to feel tired, and
halfway through, I thought, "Wait... what am I doing again?" (laughs)

Even so, because these were the names of people I didn't know, I didn't want to make any mistakes, so I walked through it to the end while checking each article one by one.

And what was completed is this "Pay It Forward Tree."

When I looked at the completed tree as a whole,
the first thing that surprised me was its size.

"Amazing!"

I wondered if the circle of kindness had really spread this much in just two weeks.

Also, while I was making the tree,
a "Kindness Connection Map"
was also made for me.

I have updated this to the latest version, so
please be sure to look for your own name.

Even though this might look like just a list,
it is actually a collection of
"I was thinking of you" moments.

Thinking of it that way made my heart swell.

But immediately after, I also thought this:

"Wait, isn't this not everyone?"

Even just from the ones I picked up, there were over 200 people. There are likely still others who are not on this tree.

Setting aside the fact that AI isn't omnipotent,
in reality, this tree is much, much larger.
And it will continue to grow even more.

When I thought about that, I realized that this baton of kindness had spread even further than I had seen.

Looking at it, there really were all sorts of people.

Those who followed the three-person rule and extended the branches.
Those who added more branches because they "wanted to introduce more people."
Those who connected it even while pausing along the way.
Those who participated in a voluntary capacity.

There were even those who, out of consideration for the next person, chose to stop the baton.

But it was precisely because those people had their articles that I was able to know the shape of this tree.

Every branch has its own kind of kindness,
and I realized that this tree didn't grow just from rules.

"I'll pass it on"
"I'll receive it"
"This is what I'll do"

Those small acts of kindness piled up little by little to become this single tree.

I only made that tree slightly visible this time.

If, upon seeing this picture,

"Oh, it connects to the present from this person."

If someone, somewhere, smiles like that, then that alone makes these hours of work feel worthwhile.

And, as I walked through 200 people, I saw many interesting things beyond just the size of the tree.

There were truly so many people who said, "Three people isn't enough!" 🤭

I thought it was a single path, but it was actually spreading out like a map.

Even though it was an introductory article about someone else, it really conveyed who that person was.

There are still so many views that only became visible because I walked this path.

I think I will write about that in another article.

Walking through everyone's articles this time, I thought once again: there are really so many wonderful people on note.

Actually, I am not very good at socializing.

Even now, it still takes a bit of courage for me to follow someone or write a comment.

That is why my interactions are slow.

But through this project, I have come to think, "I want to cherish my connections more."

If you feel like walking through this forest a little more, I would be happy if you followed me 🌳

I hope to visit all of you as well, even if it is just a little bit at a time.

I look forward to continuing our journey together.

Baton pass for the second round ⬇︎

First runner ⬇︎

I will introduce the people who participated in the project.

*Added on 8/5~

*Added on 8/8

8/11