Hi! My name is Joe LaValley. Approximately 7 years ago there was a period when, as I traveled about I kept noticing how I wanted to acknowledge people
for things that they'd been, or done. I'd notice someone would have beautified in some way their yard and I apppreciated it and wanted to let them know that. Or, someone would be
particularly kind, generous, honest, joyfull or inspiring and the pleasure I took in that, I wanted to express to them. Now the concept of acknowledging people was not unfamiliar to
me. I'd known its value for atleast 10 years by then. And so this,.. kept expanding and I thought, if I could, in addition to the vocal acknowledgement give these people something tangible to remind them of
the event and the appreciation of another for who they were in Being or for what they did, then I could compound the value by adding duration to my acknowledgement. Usually I was heading somewhere and did not have much time so the idea of a sticky note (like the commonly used 3M "Post-it"notes) or a postcard, both with the beginnings of an
acknowledgement on them would provide what I sought: a quick-n-easy method of acknowledgement. With this I could just finish out the acknowledgement line to indicate specifically what I was acknowledging
them for, and then sign and date it and in say 60 seconds I'd be delivering it. The person receiving it would take it into their house and stick it to their table, their cubbard, door, desk, mirror or
refrigerator, someplace where they would most likely frequently see it, think about it and subconsciously take notice of it, i.e. what it stood for as a symbol several times during their day
and the following days, weeks or months, who knows. This person would be reminded by the symbol, of both the kind gesture of another and
their own worth & value to others which made such a difference, and was so appreciated. When, on occasion the person I wanted to acknowledge was not home or otherwise present the note or
postcard I'd leave or later send off would get the message through. Again, with those preprinted beginnings all the acknowledger needs to do is finish that sentence. Then if they're a mind to they can add
their name, the date and even a phone number if they so desire. I enrolled an artist friend of mine in drawing up for me some graphics to go along with the various kinds of acknowledgements I
had been thinking of. I began to see what a great public for various governmental agencies and corporations this would be. They could use them not only with their clients but even amongst their employees. So
I designed some for use in schools, some for the Highway Patrol and some for the United States Postal Service. Next I saw how really valuable they could be for families and so I made some for them. That was
particularly rewarding for me as I have two young daughters. I saw how these could be used wisely or unwisely so I created also some directions for appropiate use. This concept for
promoting acknowledgement had become so obviously beneficial for our race that I have taken "acknowledgement" on as a cause of mine. Since I already had a business (Vital Iris) inwhich I developed and
marketed my own inventions I just added this idea to my product roster. Community Works is the contextual vessel from which all my various works emanate. |
