LendInk and How We Can *All* Help

I'm going to tell you, right up front, that this blog post contains a call to action -- most particularly to authors who, like me, were confused, angry and *wrong* about LendInk.

First, though, I want to talk about amends. Apologies are part of making amends, but they are not amends themselves. Making amends means doing the best you can to help make things whole.

Here is part of a post I wrote on Facebook:

In recovery, steps 8 and 9 have to do with making amends. I have reached out directly to Mr. Porter of LendInk, and also made public apologies via my blog for my anger and my errors. There is no rule, or guarantee, or anything like one, that says people have to accept one's overture or amends. Here's what 12-step.org says about this, and I couldn't agree more: When we make amends we are simply telling the person we harmed the truth about our actions as we now see it, trusting that the healing, the self-acceptance, and the serenity we will gain is worth the rejection we may encounter. We are trusting that God and our fellow seekers in this Way can do more to bring us to happiness and intimacy than any negative opinion could hurt us. Although this risking of open rejection by those to whom we make amends is frightening, we have the experience of thousands of people who have taken this step before us to encourage and strengthen us as we go. After making amends to all the people we listed in Step Eight, we begin to experience the "promises of the program"... (quoted from Kenneth Miller's "A Hunger for Healing").

Okay, with that said, over in the comments on this blog post, Eddie shared that Mr. Porter is crowdsourcing the funds to restore LendInk. I made a donation this morning, and I challenge every single author who was, as I said at the start of this post, confused, angry and wrong about LendInk to have the courage to do the same. Here is the link: Help Restore LendInk.

John Wayne once said that courage is feeling the fear and saddling up anyway. I remembered that as I wrote the blog post I referenced above and prepared to take any well-deserved lumps that came my way. I feel blessed (there, I said it) to have had the discussions I've had, even with those who were justifiably angry. I was scared to send that blog out into the ether, and to share it as many places as I did. However, I also knew that was part of the amends process for me. And now there is a material way to make amends as well.

Look, I'm not asking for anyone to give more than they can afford. I'm not asking for anyone to attach their name to their donation (edited 8/16/12 to add that I donated anonymously; please see comments for explanation). What I *am* asking is that you have the courage to at least admit to the person in the *mirror* that you were wrong, if you don't feel like you can do it publicly, and give *something* to help Mr. Porter restore his business.