Does anyone know what it means?
It's on my mind this morning. As we know full well here at the All Spin Zone, the ugliness on the Happy Planet can absorb hours and hours of our short lives. It makes me cranky and full of spirit-killing tension. It makes me bark at Mr. Keys for no good reason, and wake in the middle of the night shivering and rasping curses. Sometimes it just flat out paralyzes me. And then sometimes I remember that there is much more than politics, and the kluggy machinations of limited minds. Sometimes I remember that simple kindness is what separates me from the neandercons, and all the rest that are filling their emptiness with all manner of acquisitions that don't, in the end, fill up the empty spaces at all. In fact they just create more emptiness, but I digress.
My life has not gone as smoothly as my imagination and dreams would like in the last few years. In spare moments of clarity I know I am not alone in this feeling. I try not to whine out loud, but know also that sometimes I have to, because ... well, we just have to. The whole denigration of self-pity is nonsensical to me. If I cannot have pity and sympathy for myself, then I can have it for no one else. Which reminds me of my favorite Kahlil Gibran quote: "I would that my life remain a tear and a smile. A tear to unite me with those of broken heart, a smile to remind me of my joy in existence." There's a old story there about being 18-years old at the university, and the first year law student who loved me, but again I digress.
So, I suppose I'm mostly just thinking out loud (it's what blogging is all about, yes?) ... asking you all to consider that we, you and me, are not the political morass that we see all around us. I am not, and you are not. We are human beings who have incredible potential to do creative kindnesses on the Happy Planet every day. Change the world. I really want to know, as the Grateful Dead sang in "Uncle John's Band" ... "are you kind?" I'm guessing you are. We have a rare bird here at ASZ. We have people who can think.... people with capacity for critical thinking... believe me, it's more rare every day. But I read every day you all crying "I'm Human" to the world. More and more I'm struck dumb with the the notion that it is courageous to be kind on the Happy Planet, circa 2005.
I pulled a couple of links... The first is the phenomenon that started with one woman... the "Random Acts of Kindness" movement, the World Kindness Movement. The other is the loosely associated group that began with the novel and film "Pay It Forward". It's an excerpt from the novel. See the film if you haven't already. You can find more on the subject if you look a bit. Here is a collection of quotes on kindness.
I know, have known for some time, that I'm over the bleeding edge where politics and all of its shams are concerned. Politics is not a part of living. It's just another show, however entertaining. Kindness is living.
