You may be asking yourself… “What can I offer that would be of value to the community? I’m not a mechanic or chiropractor, so what skills or talents could I provide?”
In our society, we tend to feel our services are worthless if there is not significant monetary value associated with them. This mentality helps create a majority of people who never believe they are truly good enough or as valuable as their neighbor. The Time Bank encourages and fosters the true reality: that everyone has a beautiful contribution to gift humanity with every single day.
The beauty of this system is that we encourage you to offer something you really love. Don’t get stressed about discovering what you’ll do. You might have some ideas now and decide to do something completely different in the end.
Many people aren’t sure what exactly they want to offer until attending Orientation and getting a better feel for how it all works. Whatever your process, it’s all fine!
To start thinking about what you can offer, what are some of the activities that really bring you joy or make you feel worth? What do you do all the time and not even think about? It may have nothing to do with your job and an area you have no formal training in. That’s okay!
Chances are, if you find appreciation in something, someone else will too! Many basic things we do everyday and take for granted are wonderful offers to include. You might even want to make a list of what things you did in a week because not everyone can or wants to do what you can!
Here are some examples of services that may get your juices flowing:
Dog Walking
Snow Shoveling
Watercolor Instruction
Hiking Companion
Running Loads to the Laundromat
Driving Someone to the Store or Doctor
Listening with Tea
Life Coaching
Party Planning
Herbal Education
Event Photography
Etc. …
After Orientation, if you still are at a loss, we’ll even sit down with you to discuss options and make suggestions!