Can y’all endure just one more long blog from us? We promise we will be quiet for a good long time after this 😊
Have you heard the phrase “imitation is the highest form of flattery”? I think that can be true, but then again, in some situations it is not. My children imitate my dance moves, which are basically off beat, awkward and quite unique. When they imitate me, it is to make fun of me and their imitation is truly hilarious and has given us a lot of laughs and great memories. Anyway we look at it, someone can be inspired from something you did, said, wore, etc., positively or negatively. IFAQH has been contacted by several people who were inspired by our project to do their own thing because IFAQH was not for them. GREAT! There is a group in Great Britain that was going to do birds, another person loved fall and she did pumpkins, one did “any inanimate object”, and the crocheters started their own crocheted heart group. There are others, and we are humbled that IFAQH could inspire more kindness around the world. We know IFAQH is not for everyone, we do not try to be, we only want to brighten the day of that one random stranger who happens upon a heart.
The 3 of us started this little project through the inspiration given us by the heart found in Nevada. We searched and searched for the original maker, but perhaps, like us, that person wishes to remain anonymous or maybe they are unaware of the impact that one heart has made. IFAQH was born from that one heart and we have had growing pains over the last ten years. We always knew we wanted to remain neutral, with no agenda and no strings attached. What that looked like has evolved into what IFAQH is today. At one time, we did share batches of hearts made on our website, had the now unapproved phrases such as “report me as found”, and allowed comments on FB. During our board meeting bike rides, we talked about how to put the finder of the hearts first and foremost. The first to go were the batches of hearts posted on our web site – how does that inspire the random stranger? It didn’t. Then the unapproved phrases went away because reporting a heart found was for us and we want IFAQH to remain all about the finder. The final edit we made to IFAQH was the ability to comment on FB as we were getting spammed. We could not (did not want to) monitor it 24/7, but we did want to protect all of you from that. Ten years later, we are secure and confident with the mission of IFAQH and how it has evolved. We do not anticipate any drastic changes.
We put time and effort into maintaining the website, email, and Facebook. We gladly do it for that one random stranger who finds a heart the chooses to let us know, and for the followers to be encouraged, as we know it does come full circle when you read a touching story. We were getting many reports, emails, messages, from people regarding things that were not IFAQH – finders were clueless, followers were confused thinking there was more than one IFAQH site, and we were confused why they thought that. Once we started digging, we realized there were other sites promoting IFAQH and it felt like IFAQH was a victim of identity fraud – IFAQH’s identity was assumed, with a new personality, different focus, and done without our knowledge. We knew we needed to protect our project. Had these other sites contacted us to let us know what they were going to do, we would have asked them not to, and encouraged them to do their own thing, not IFAQH related. We would have helped them in anyway we could. IFAQH is just one of many RAK’s. On our adventures, we have come across other wonderful RAKs and have participated in them, and still do to this day. We have left painted rocks, pumpkins, and hearts for other projects, to name a few. It is fun to participate in other projects! If I were to recommend a different, fun RAK, it would be something butterfly related, which is inspired from comments on reported hearts that butterflies are very significant.
Our blog did generate a lot of mixed emotions and maybe even confusion from the other sites. We want to acknowledge that we believe intent of the admins in creating the other sites was good. But, their sites are just not within the vision of IFAQH. Currently, of the other sites (we know of) who were promoting IFAQH in their own way, with their own set of rules, two of them decide to remove all trace of IFAQH and rename themselves. To you two, we are truly grateful and we wish you abundant success in your new adventure. You have the generous hearts, passion, and drive to share kindness which sounds like a win/win/win! We can’t wait to see what wonderful things you will do! This means there will be new opportunities for the sisters to join other RAKs along our adventures, and that brings us joy. Hopefully the other sites will be inspired by you to do their own thing, filling the niche of many good, kind, giving people who just want to share kindness. For everyone who has followed or is following IFAQH or any other group(s), know that the sisters do not look at this as a competition – who can get the most reach, most followers on FB, who is staying, who is going, etc., but a way for different personalities, talents, interests to find what works for them. Variety is the spice of life!
Thank you for letting us, once again, share our heart. We head out on a grand adventure in June and may send an update sometime this summer. If you ever need to reach us, you can message us on FB or contact us through the website at www.ifaqh.com
Until then, be well, be happy, be kind, and know that the 3 sisters are grateful for you.
The Three Sisters