Adventboost 2017 – Day 1 – #ShowUpForWishes

Last year, I ran a blog post series I called AdventBoost with daily posts between December 1st and Christmas Eve, each featuring a marginalized creative or a work by a marginalized creative that I think you should all check out. You can check out last year’s AdventBoost posts here. Do it! Lots of great stuff, there.

This year, I’m back for more of the same! And we’re starting today, fashionably late in the evening due to a University deadline, with signal boosting… a hashtag! A bit unorthodox, I know, but it’s a really good and season-appropriate one.

#ShowUpForWishes

#ShowUpForWishes is a hashtag created by the lovely @showupforthis, one of the highlights of my Twitter feed. The idea behind the hashtag is as simple as it is lovely: we all deserve to want things. Even things we don’t need. Becuase let’s be honest – in the perfect world everyone would have the things that they need to live a safe and healthy life. This is not a perfect world, but that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with wanting things that aren’t strictly speaking necessary or even “useful” in the practical sense. It is okay to want things that are “just” beautiful, or fun, or interesting. And we all know the “just” there is sort of baloney – things that we love have value even if they aren’t considered useful by others.

So how does this hashtag work? Well, people (anyone, honestly!) post their Amazon wishlists, tipjars or what-have-yous under the hashtag and then whoever wants to can play fairy godmother and gift the person something from their list. Of course, some people are also posting things they actually need, in the form of gofundmes and the like, which is just as valid and worthy! And for those who can’t afford to actually buy something for a stranger, fear not! Signal-boosting via retweeting is just as valuable. Who knows, maybe one of your followers will play fairy godmother instead! It is a really cool project and I can’t thank @showupforthis enough for creating it.

I’m participating in #ShowUpForWishes in a few different ways. I’ve posted my own Amazon list on Twitter under the hashtag, and I’ve gifted a few little things to various people (as I am currently, possibly quite temporarily, in the blessed state of actually regularly having money left over at the end of the month). I am also retweeting more than I’ve ever retweeted. I think I need to slow down a little, to be honest. It’s sort of dominating my feed. Then again, it is a very worthy cause so I don’t really mind.

So, what are you waiting for? Get on Twitter, and spend some time scrolling through #ShowUpForWishes! Buy someone nail polish, or pet treats or a really cool book! Post your own wishlist because you, too, are allowed to want things! Retweet! Retweet! Retweet! Let’s get giving!