Tag Archives: kindness

Sep24

true compassion.

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after all of the wedding fun

finding the very tiny lizard, lizzy

thinking lizzy was gone

but finding she had hitched a ride in the car by hiding on someone’s dress

finding another tiny lizard, johnny boy

who hitched a ride on someone else’s pants

when we were looking in the trees for someone just like him

making houses for each of them

giving them food and water and air, and hiding rocks and grass

then thinking more about them and what would make them feel happy and safe

after talking, reciting poetry to them, interpretive ballet dancing

thanking them for finding us, hitching a ride, and playing with us for a little while

we decided that we loved them

and because we did

it was much kinder and compassionate

to return them to their lizard trees

to let them go home to their families and friends

to be healthy, happy, and safe

rather than try to keep them for ourselves

 there were

a few tears

lots of love

and

 a much greater understanding.

“true compassion means not only feeling another’s pain but also being moved to help relieve it.”
– daniel goleman

Aug15

mistaken orders.

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the restaurant of mistaken orders employs waitstaff with dementia

and you can never be exactly sure what you will be getting.

below is a statement from the restaurant to potential patrons and to the world.

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you may think it’s crazy,

a restaurant that can’t even get your order right,

all of our servers are people living with dementia,

they may, or may not, get your order right.

however, rest assured,

that even if your order is mistaken

everything on our menu is delicious and one of a kind.

this we guarantee.

“it’s okay if my order was wrong, it tastes so good anyway.”

we hope this feeling of openness and understanding

will spread across japan, and through the world.

—

We ask for your continued support of The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders in Tokyo, Japan.

Our mission is to spread dementia awareness and to make society a little bit more open-minded and relaxed.

 

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“gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.”

-lionel hampton

 

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source credits: https://www.japan.go.jp/tomodachi/2019/winter2019/restaurant_of_mistaken_orders.html

   the government of japan

 

Jun11

where does the rainbow end?

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After their LGBTQ pride flag was stolen twice in recent weeks, a pair of Ann Arbor churches are responding the only way they know how — giving away more flags.

St Aidan’s Episcopal Church and Northside Presbyterian Church, which share a building in Ann Arbor, are launching a “Need A Flag, Take A Flag” event today. The event will feature 300 LGBTQ pride flags and allow anyone in need of a flag  to take home their own handheld versions.

Although the event is in part a Pride Month celebration, the inspiration for it comes from the theft of the churches’ own flags. On April 3, church leadership received an email saying someone had removed the flag and thrown it into the bushes. On June 1, the churches reported the replaced flag had been stolen completely.

“I still haven’t found it,” said the Rev. Thomas Ferguson, vicar at St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church. The Rev. Jenny Saperstein, pastor at Northside Presbyterian Church, told Ferguson, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, that whoever took it must have needed a flag. “She said, let’s answer this with something positive,” Ferguson said.

The churches, which often partner on social justice issues, will have 300 flags available and plan to order more if they run out. Launching the event on a Sunday allows the entire congregation to get involved with the advocacy, Saperstein said. “It’s really this church community that stands for that,” Saperstein said. “Not just the pastors.”

Hearing affirming messaging from churches is especially important for marginalized communities. “We’ll hope to change hearts and minds with love,” Ferguson said. “We’re not going away, and we’re not changing our stance here with the oppressed.”

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Donde termina el arco iris,
en tu alma o en el horizonte?

Where does the rainbow end,
in your soul or on the horizon?

― Pablo Neruda, The Book of Questions

 

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source credit: jordyn pair, mlive, ann arbor news

Jun9

greenhorn.

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one of my favorite teacher gifts ever

a big, colorful, ceramic unicorn

chosen and painted by a student

body painted green, my favorite color

eyes painted yellow, her favorite color

accents painted black, because they look cool

and a unicorn

because it was a gift straight from the heart.

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p.s. i named it ‘greenhorn’ because it looks like it has magical powers

 

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“be a unicorn in a field full of horses.”

-author unknown

May23

change of heart.

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A 9-year-old girl’s plea to save a sidewalk slab with a heart-shaped cavity has tugged at the heartstrings of Ann Arbor officials, who have agreed to let it stay. The inspector also spray-painted an X over the R that previously marked the slab for replacement, while writing “Save!” and giving the heart a fresh touch of color.
Where Dahlia left a note along the sidewalk last week making the case for keeping the slab, the city’s inspector on Monday left a response letter complete with the city seal on it. “Thank you for your wonderful letter, and for bringing this to our attention!” it reads. “Your note is very well written, and after further considerations, we feel this sidewalk slab can be saved. We’re so glad you let us know, and that we can save your ‘heart.’”
Seventh Street heart sidewalk

“Thank you for being so passionate and proactive about your community!” the response letter states. “When you’re old enough, you should consider working for the city to continue making it a great place to live. Sincerely, City Sidewalk Repair Program.”

Dahlia, the daughter of Kelly and Matt,  said in her note to the ‘Sidewalk People” last week that she was devastated when she saw the slab was marked for replacement.

“You see, the heart is not just a heart,” she wrote. “Ever since I was little, I said hi to the heart. Don’t you see how much it means to me? Every time I pass the heart, I say hi and it brings me joy.”

Anyone else who wants to say hi to the heart now can find it along the east side of Seventh Street across from Waterworks Park between Murray Court and Washington Street.

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“kind words do not cost much, yet they accomplish much.”

-blaise pascal

 

 

 

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source credit: ryan stanton, mlive, ann arbor news

May18

superheroes.

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a rare sighting

of the superheroes

holding a secret summit meeting

 sharing brave case stories, making plans, and at the ready to help their classmates.

shhhhh…

—

“you are not too small. no one is ever too small to offer help.”
― emlyn ehand, honey the hero

Apr5

sow the seeds.

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The image of the child musician crying was classified as one of the most emotional photographs of modern history. This photo was taken of a 12-year-old Brazilian boy (Diego Frazzo Turkato), playing the violin at the funeral of his teacher who rescued him from the environment of poverty and crime in which he lived.

In this image, humanity speaks with the strongest voice in the world:

“Cultivate love and kindness in a child to sow the seeds of compassion. And only then you will build a great civilization, a great nation “.  – dalai lama

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credits: Photographer: Marcos Tristao

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“what wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?”

-jean-jacque rousseau

Feb20

his gift keeps giving.

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 ‘mr. rogers’ neighborhood’ aired for the very 1st time, 55 years ago

fred rogers was a unique person with an immense heart and an incredible understanding of life

he’s one of my personal idols/heroes and i’m happy to see his legacy and lessons continue.

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“we all have different gifts, so we all have different ways of saying to the world who we are.”

-mr. rogers

 

 

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credit: fred rogers productions

Feb15

cake4kids.

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Meet Cake4Kids: The Nonprofit That Bakes Birthday Cakes for Foster and At-Risk Children

 Inspired by an article profiling a young girl in the foster care system who burst into tears upon receiving her first birthday cake, Cake4Kids founder Libby Gruender recognized that such a simple gesture could have a profound impact on the lives of underprivileged children. IIn 2010, Cake4Kids launched as a grassroots effort in Sunnyvale, California, with a handful of volunteers baking 13 cakes for a few agencies that support youth. Today, the organization encompasses hundreds of volunteers, serves over 400 social services agencies, and provides over 3,000 custom, homemade cakes or sweets for at-risk kids (ages 1-24) on an annual basis — with more than 40,000 treats delivered in the past 13 years

While a birthday cake may seem like a simple gesture to many, each baked good serves as a sweet reminder to the children and youth in the U.S. foster care system that they are seen, cherished, and not forgotten.

Per the organization’s website, children served by this mission include “youth in foster care, group homes, homeless shelters, transitional and low income housing, domestic violence or human trafficking shelters, substance abuse programs, and refugees.” Agencies partnering with Cake4Kids must serve at-risk or underserved youth, be categorized as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization or government agency, and have offices in an area served by Cake4Kids.

Three years after Cake4Kids began, Gruender sadly passed away, but her mission continues to live on: The organization has since expanded across the country, with chapters all across the United States.

For more information, visit the Cake4Kids website to learn how you can volunteer, start a chapter in your area, and donate.

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“how far that little candle throws his beams! so shines a good deed in a weary world.”

-william shakespeare, the merchant of venice

 

 

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-source credit: julia diddy

Feb9

small kindnesses.

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I’ve been thinking about the way,

when you walk down a crowded aisle,

people pull in their legs to let you by.

Or how strangers still say “bless you” when someone sneezes,

a leftover from the Bubonic plague.

“Don’t die,” we are saying.

And sometimes,

when you spill lemons from your grocery bag,

someone else will help you pick them up.

Mostly, we don’t want to harm each other.

We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot,

and to say thank you to the person handing it.

To smile at them and for them to smile back.

For the waitress to call us honey when she sets down the bowl of clam chowder,

and for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass.

We have so little of each other, now.

So far from tribe and fire.

Only these brief moments of exchange.

What if they are the true dwelling of the holy,

these fleeting temples we make together when we say,

“Here, have my seat,” “Go ahead — you first,” “I like your hat.”

by Danusha Lameris, Small Kindnesses

 

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 Danusha Laméris is a poet, teacher, and essayist. She is the author of The Moons of August (Autumn House, 2014), which was chosen by Naomi Shihab Nye as the winner of the Autumn House Press poetry prize and was a finalist for the Milt Kessler Book Award. Some of her poems have been published in: The Best American Poetry, The New York Times, The American Poetry Review, Prairie Schooner, The SUN Magazine, Tin House, The Gettysburg Review, and Ploughshares.