{^top}

A Brief History of 'Join Me'

While some people while away their spare hours engaged in a hobby such as gardening, whittling, or reading-up on giant squid, others take a more imaginative and extrovert approach. Take Danny Wallace, for example.

Danny is a successful BBC Radio 4 and TV producer, writer and film reviewer. One day while he was sitting in his pants, in his flat, kicking his heels and wondering how he might fill one particularly uneventful afternoon, he did what many of us do: he started a cult.

Well, I say 'cult', it wasn't so much a cult as a collective; cults have had quite a bad press of late-and he did start it quite by accident. I'm not explaining myself very well, let me start at the beginning.

Before I do, here's how to join...

{^top}

In the Beginning...

In the beginning was a farmer, a Swiss farmer, who went by the name of Gallus Breitenmoser. In 1945, in post-war Switzerland, Gallus decided to start a commune in the small town of Mosnang, near Zurich. With plenty of land he reckoned that he could quite easily attract 100 people to live and work with him. It would be a new and exciting way to live, new opportunities, new challenges.

Only three people joined him. So, not so much a commune, more a flat-share.

{^top}

Send one passport photo to...

Danny Wallace, Gallus's great-nephew learned about his great-uncle's spectacular failure at his funeral last year. Something about the story struck a chord and soon Danny decided that he would get the 100 people needed for his great-uncle's collective.

A man of action, Dan rang up local London newspaper Loot and placed a classified ad in the next issue, which read: "Join Me, send one passport photograph to." and he supplied his address.

A few days later, quite unexpectedly, Danny received a letter through the post. It was from a cheery-looking man called Christian Jones. Danny had his first 'joinee'.

The joinees kept coming. People of all ages and backgrounds joined Danny, even though they didn't know why they were joining, or what they were joining. But join they did, and Danny's collective grew day by day.

Gareth Saunders -- that's me -- was one of them (that's my passport photo above).

{^top}

Raison d'être

I don't know what you do with your cult members, but Danny wasn't quite sure what he should do with his, so he went back to his great-uncle's letters to find some inspiration. And he found it in these words:

"It is better, think I, always to make happy, those gentlemen who are in advance of you in years!"

(Obviously his great-uncle spoke like Yoda!) Of course, make old men happy!

Over the weeks this developed into asking members to do a 'Random Act of Kindness' each Friday, 'good Fridays' if you like. I've even signed the Good Friday's Agreement.

{^top}

Good Fridays

Now, when I first started all this Join Me nonsense, I obviously had a bit of a dilemma. Should I use my new-found powers for Good, or for Evil?

Clearly, it was a tough choice. I could, for example, have arranged the Post Office hold-up to have involved so many robbers we couldn't all have fitted in the Post Office. Or I could have asked you all to come with me to the theatre to see a play that I hate, and then we could all have left as the curtain was rising.

But no.

I decided to use my powers for Good.

You are my Karma Army.

Now, I have been asking Joinees to perform Random Acts of Kindness. To pay for a stranger's tea, to help a kitten across the road, or rescue a stray old woman from a tree. That kind of thing.

Clearly, we should be doing Random Acts of Kindness every day.

BUT: FRIDAYS ARE OUR SPECIAL DAY

First there were GOOD FRIDAYS… now, for one month only, I am instigating a new scheme…
Throughout December, I would like to ask all joinees to not only continue with Good Fridays… but to start HAPPY MONDAYS, as well…
Do something that makes you happy, every Monday.
It could be watching a video. It could be going for a walk. It could even be doing another random act of kindness for a stranger.
Whatever it is, do it, and tell me about it.
Have some happy Happy Mondays!

Contact us

• Contact page

Aussie website

• www.joinmeoz.com

Community

Joinees