What this world needs is a new kind of army – the army of the kind. ~Cleveland Amory
I recently shared an Instagram image of my husband and I standing on a street corner in NYC near a chalk-drawn heart at our feet. A friend asked on the feed, “Did you bring your own chalk?” The comment made me laugh. It sounds like me actually, to do something like that but in this instance, it was someone else who brought the chalk. In fact, it was what I would consider a random act of kindness. We found a number of these chalk hearts along our walk around the city that evening.
Sometimes when we engage ourselves in activities like leaving hope notes, or sidewalk messages, we forget that others might be doing the same. To stumble across gestures of kindness from strangers is nothing short of wonderful. It reminds me that we are all called to be a part of “the army of the kind”.
Today, share a story that expresses the power (and beauty) of kindness.
in may 2011, i was walking in the woods, along a path that was completely empty of people. people did walk there, but i felt i was all alone in the world at that moment.
there in the path ahead was a comment written in the dirt…it said "you are magical"
it may have been from one person to another originally or it may have been a gift, from the universe, to the strangers who stumbled upon it, there in the woods.
whichever it was, it was a gift of kindness for sure 🙂
Yesterday, someone gave a gift, the ability to go to a weekend retreat in the mountains in December. A gift of love at a time when I needed it so much. In the same moment that I read the email, a cardinal chirruped his little heart out at the feeder outside my "office" window. I felt so blessed in that moment.
I have been thinking about acts of kindness today. I love to receive them, but sometimes doing random kindness brings out the vulnerability gremlins. Yesterday I received a text of appreciation from a friend, and that gratitude was a gift to me.
I woke up this morning to find that a hugely talented blogger/artist/writer from Scotland who I have never met but admire greatly had written a beautiful post about my work and my latest project…because it inspired her. I am still shaking my head in disbelief. The only way to respond to that gesture of pure generosity is to pay it forward and do the same thing for others. Indigo Jansen really inspired ME today to do that. http://indigojanson.com/1078/sherry-galey-inspiring-uplifting-photography/