Riches that all the money in the boom couldn't buy

While this recession has stripped people of hope, it has also brought forward a national self-awareness - an awareness of what works and what doesn't.
Photograph: Bryan O'Brien

OPINION: LAST WEEK, my friends were in an off-licence getting a couple of cans for a quiet night in. No job, so no money for big nights out on the town anymore, writes CAMERON STEWART 

They came to the top of the queue at 10pm and were 20 cent short. The shopkeeper, after a long and trying day, was having none of it.

That was until something amazing happened. A homeless man, who was begging outside after an equally long and trying day, heard the commotion, walked up to the guys and placed 20 cent in their hand.

This for me is hope.

The knowledge that despite all that is wrong with society, despite “these recessionary times”, despite those personal moments when it seems the universe itself is conspiring against you, that all is not lost, and that there is everything to be found.

All is not lost – even if every headline from here to next year sends a chill down the public’s spine. When your material world comes crashing down, all it takes is a call from a friend, a breath of fresh air or a gesture from a complete stranger to remind you of the wealth that permeates your life.

This wealth doesn’t have a figure attached, and maybe that’s what makes it priceless. It can be as simple as the health you take for granted, a family who are always there for you, or the community to which you belong. It is these elements that make up the fabric of our daily life, requiring neither recession nor boom for illumination.

Last year, aged 18, I decided to take a chance on an idea that could illuminate what life is about. I started a clothing brand that could encourage people to make the world a better place. My idea: every time you wear the T-shirt you perform one Act of Random Kindness, an Ark°. Buy a stranger a coffee, give up your seat on the bus, help a drunk home. Just make someone’s day.

I initially thought about how it presented an opportunity to gain financial freedom, even become a millionaire. Then I realised that Ark° points to the world’s best kept secret: that you make a living by what you get, but a life by what you give.

With that, I emptied the Acts of Random Kindness Ltd business bank account, and what represented my life savings, and used it to buy gifts for the homeless in Belfast. At the time, I was written off as a naive idealist, with everyone saying that I was better off going to university and getting a proper job.

One year on, perhaps to this very day, Ark° has taken off, with people in 23 countries proudly wearing the brand and performing Acts of Random Kindness. We’ve also organised Ark° projects all over the world, from helping a family bring home their turf in Connemara, to repainting an orphanage in Zambia. In fact last week an Ark° volunteer in Nigeria called a meeting in his village with one simple question, how can we simply help each other more?

He is 16 years old.

When something like this can emerge from one person’s simple idea, I’ve reason to believe that far from being lost, everything is to be found.

I feel that while this recession has stripped people of hope, it has also brought forward a national self-awareness – an awareness of what works and what doesn’t.

The conversations I have in taxis and queues and lifts all evoke the same sentiment: “those times were good, but they weren’t filled with goodness”.

There is an awareness that living for yourself may get you places, but those places aren’t all that they claimed to be. In some cases, they don’t even exist.

There is a new-found value in the parts of life that taxation cannot touch, authentic wealth that is found in loving families, lasting friendships and meaningful pursuits.

If that is truly the case then the only thing in real recession is the attitude and mindset that defined the boom. I think that that way of thinking is best left in the past.

I read a story of a young man who left Ireland for Australia because there was no hope on these shores. Apart from some extra sun and job prospects, what conditions that contribute to sustainable human happiness are there but not here?

It’s my fear that if he places it in the same criteria that prompted his departure, he may find himself in a different place, but have arrived nowhere new.

We are more a movement than a company so we don’t believe in vacuous mottos that define our brand. However, I can’t help but come back to three words that define what we’re trying to get people to do: change your world.

The recession may dominate our headlines, but it does not have to dominate our daily lives. Unless we are high-flying builders or Department of Finance officials, Nama does not hold a special place in every waking hour.

Our daily lives are a choice and we can either be a victim or victor of circumstances. We can choose to hang our heads and engage in roundabout conversations as to the state of things, or we can choose to fill our day with moments that all the money in the boom couldn’t buy.

Our jobs may not be safe, but their existence never defined our sense of self in the first place. What does is what you can do. Try buying a chocolate bar for a complete stranger. Try surprising your family with their favourite meal. Try living to give and experiencing the true meaning of wealth.

It’s all about Changing your World. For me that starts with an Ark.

Cameron Stewart is 19 years old and comes from Holywood in Northern Ireland. He studied accountancy at Queen’s University, Belfast, and at Newcastle University.

Ark° sources its clothes from an ethical factory in China. You can find out more about the organisation and how to get involved from www.ArkHQ.com

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