Unique Bracelet Inspires Compassion Around the Globe

Nov. 13, 2012 - PRLog -- “We believe that the next step after globalization is a global compassion movement,” says San Diego resident, Sara Schairer. Schairer is the founder of Compassion It, a secular organization whose mission is to “inspire daily compassionate actions.” This social enterprise has gone from a mere vision to a global social movement in four months thanks to a unique reversible bracelet that inspires compassionate action.

“A few years ago, the word compassionate became two words in my brain – compassion it,” Schairer says.  “Compassion became a verb, an action. I found in my own life, that when I ‘compassioned it’ - or put myself in another’s shoes - during difficult situations or when making decisions, I achieved the best outcomes.”

Thanks to Schairer’s vision, a devoted team and a social entrepreneurship fellowship, Compassion It is now a growing company making an impact around the globe and educating children about compassion.

Numerous scientific studies indicate that practicing compassion makes a person happier, healthier and more attractive to others. Compassion strengthens relationships, creates communities and fosters world peace. Compassion It wants this message to make its way into people’s lives.

To achieve this goal, Compassion It sells a unique reversible bracelet. Wearers start the morning with the dark side facing out.  After a compassionate action, they flip the bracelet over to the light side. In this way, they have a daily, tangible reminder to bring that compassionate attitude to the events of the day. The bracelets come in pairs so that you “wear one, share one,” and the proceeds from the bracelets fund compassion education initiatives and help propel the movement.

“The compassionate act can be something big, but even small gestures can warrant a bracelet flip – like smiling at a stranger or giving someone the benefit of the doubt,” says Schairer. Compassion It created the 365 days of compassion challenge, so that wearers can observe how a year of compassion can transform their lives.

Tragedy jumpstarted the Compassion It movement in July of 2012.  Residents of Northbrook, Ill., used Compassion It bracelets as a way to unite and grieve after three of its young people died within just a few weeks of each other. Northbrook resident Casey Tanner, a social entrepreneurship academy teammate of Schairer’s, thought a Compassion It movement could help her town and organized a bracelet-selling fundraiser in honor of the men.

After the movement began in Northbrook, simple yet profound stories of compassion poured. One woman was inspired to buy a card for a cafeteria worker who had just returned from a tour with the National Guard. Another was able to comfort someone recently diagnosed with cancer. Yet another, looking at his bracelet, decided to simply help change a light bulb in his neighbor’s garage.

Compassion It has now sold bracelets in Denmark, Australia, Brazil, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany and Switzerland. This is a sign that Schairer’s vision is becoming a reality, as people are ‘compassioning it’ around the globe.

Schairer is currently teaching compassion to eighth-graders at a San Diego middle school and plans to expand that outreach as the movement grows.

More ideas about ways to act compassionately, what compassion is, and how it has changed the lives of people internationally will be published in Compassion Journal, a free online journal that Compassion It is launching in 2013 as part of its education initiative and as support for those who have taken the 365-day challenge.

With non-profit status pending, Schairer believes that Compassion It will continue to inspire compassionate actions.

“I have seen what this movement can do, and I want to share ‘compassion it’ with as many people as possible,” Schairer says. “This simple concept can do big things for our world.”

For more information, see http://www.compassionit.com or email Schairer at sara@compassionit.com.  

MISSION  

COMPASSION IT’s mission is to inspire daily compassionate actions

VISION

At COMPASSION IT, we strive to improve the social consciousness of the world.  We envision a time when we can measure a million acts of compassion taking place each day, all over the globe.

VALUE PROPOSITION

COMPASSION IT is a global social movement designed to help all people achieve happiness and attain meaningful lives using one-of-a-kind reversible bracelets to inspire daily compassionate actions.  

VIDEO
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6ja7sa85jf3940t/compassion-it