Kim, I am convinced that ferret people (or animal people in general)
invented "pay it forward". Years before the movie ever came out, Renee
Downs taught me "pay it forward". Of course I already knew to live life
to the fullest, appreciate the details of it, and to contribute as much
as I possibly could to all beings. And I was already practicing it
without even being conscious of it. But she explained and demonstrated
it in detail by modeling and DOING it. She made it tangible by paying
something forward to me. I had already seen small examples of this on
the list. So it was not entirely new. But man, she really brought me
face to face with "living it". It was in my hands so to speak, and by
taking it ... I was obligated to pass it on. I felt like a whole new
world opened up to me that day. And from that day on, I was sucked
into that wonderful way of living and thinking in the ferret world.
The movie came out much later, and it utterly blew peoples minds
because such a thing never even occurred to them. I marveled at that
fact, and I thought to myself, "wow ... this is new to everyone?"

[Posted in FML 6398]