Thursday, September 18, 2008

And bending over backwards just to try and see it clearer


My alcoholic friend * gives me self help books all time. It is a lovely gesture really as she knows that I suffer from being slutty with the stress, but I often swirl my eyes round in their sockets behind her back because she is well, not recovered. I wonder if she lends these to me to just get rid of them or they really are helping her. I don't know, but anyway one of them was sitting in my book basket and since we do not have cable anymore and the library has been closed for days due to the storm I am about desperate for reading material. I read constantly. I am a read the cereal box kinda gal, the shampoo ingredient reading woman, every stupid medical pharmaceutical chart at the doctor lady...you get it.

Anyway this book was one of those "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" publications and I thought it was going to be dumb, but I actually got right into it & it had lots of good ideas. I kept thinking about the author though and wondering if he was actually so damn chill as he sounded, but that is like everything. Like with blogs...Do these people really do all this? Does yr home look so fricking tidy all the time? Are you a robot?

I digress...There was a section on Random Acts of Kindness.

The phrase "Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty" may have been coined by peace activist Anne Herbert I read somewhere. I recall hearing about it in Europe the summer I was 18. It was in the Hofbrau House in Germany. I was drinking large beers and chatting with these Danish folks about how I was from Southeastern Ohio and how I was sure they had never heard of it before. But as it would turn out they knew well of my geographical location as they were fans of High Times magazine and knew that Meigs County was where the world famous Meigs county gold marijuana was grown. Small world.

Anyhoo, they chatted with us and later when the evening became a blur the older of two told me not to forget to practice some random kindness in Europe. I might have thought that was a come on and he meant I should be a bit wild, but I kinda knew that he knew that I was a good soul and my travels would always involve searching and the heart.

It was soon after that when I started hearing about the idea of being kind for no reason other than being kind. It sounded so novel, but it really wasn't. My family taught me that, my mom was a food pantry volunteer for Christ's sakes. It just never clicked with me until around that age. I went through a wild kindness streak in college where I would pay tolls, give love freely, and secretly gift others. It felt good. I feel like I am due for some of that old goodness back in my life again. People are pissing me off left right and center, there are people I love that make no sense, and the world is scary place right now with Sarah Palin and all- I just need to focus. That little book last night started a small wheel turning. Random Kindness. Random Kindness. I am also going to apply this concept to myself. Now that is novel.

Get me delivered to yr email xo

12 comments:

Sizzle said...

It's such an amazing feeling to be kind for the sake of being kind, not for any thank yous. Thanks for this reminder. I think I'll join you!

Elan Morgan said...

This post was a good reminder to me to look outside myself and be kind. It is so easy to get caught up your own head, and I never feel better than when I'm being kind for no reason. Thank you.

And somehow? I made that previous bit all about me anyway. I need to commit some random acts of kindness, stat!

Jodi said...

It has been a long time since I've shown anyone random kindness, count me in!

Babz Rawls Ivy said...

You are on the path now...
Cultivate this new thinking and you will see things open up for you in ways you never could imagine.

avesta said...

If we've ever needed it in this country.....this world for God's sake...it's now! Great post.

village mama said...

I'm so happy we chatted. Delighted/giggly. xo

Jessie Cacciola said...

thanks so much for stopping by (and becoming a follower!) xo

Joslyn said...

i am so with you on this one lady. i'm in on the more kindness thing.

Kate Coveny Hood said...

There is something about my little neighborhood that encourages random acts of kindness. We're all on top of each other in our little townhouses and it's hard to NOT just mow the neighbors' little yards while you're doing your own, offer to watch the new mother's baby so she can enjoy an illicit trip to the grocery store all by herself, take care of the friendly stray (i.e. obviously abandoned) cat squatting on your front steps.... Maybe that's why it's easier to be that way in college. It's a close community. So there is something to be said for living in tiny suburban townhouses. Or at least that's what I tell myself.

karey m. said...

i love you. that's all. just that. i think it's enough.

xoxo. kmm

Unknown said...

I love this post.

And I think that thinking this way helps a lot - the law of attraction and all that.

Anonymous said...

Imagine if we all did this? Simply going to the grocery store would be an amazing experience.

I'm with you!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails