#small kindnesses

[sketchesinstillness]

[acourtofquestions]

A warm cloak, in a code dungeon.

Rowan had offered her his cloak, and she'd allowed it.

[mindful-poems]

[illuminopseudonymous]

Going out to everyone who needs one

[psalm40speakstome]

Small Kindnesses by Danusha Laméris

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.”

[notalostcausejustyet]

Honestly this. It isn’t even the thing that you bring. It’s the fact that you know me well enough to notice, like me well enough to care and cared enough to do something to try and help. You could plonk a pretty leaf down on my desk and say “you looked upset and I thought this might help” and I would probably carve my heart out and hand it over.

[icewindandboringhorror]

(also feel free in the tags to clarify Why you made the choice you made!! :0c)

[rubyphilomela]

Because we all need some wholesome content

[kindnessisstillhere]

Gestures

Usually it's small things,

Saying hello, sharing a smile,

Small recognitions of people,

Making stressful times easier.

An invite in when opening;

That was the gesture that stood out,

For me today at least.

Only slightly early

But a gesture I'm grateful for,

Waiting inside rather than out.

[jamangobirb]

I had recently remembered an instances in elementary school where my class decided to put string all over our classroom as Purim shtick. I had gotten really overstimulated and claustrophobic so I decided to just cut the few strings by my desk. Another kid noticed and started yelling at me that I was ruining it for everyone else and there was no reason for me to do that, and I was still recovering from being overwhelmed and that honestly just snapped something in me. I had started crying and went nonverbal after they had walked away but then other kids noticed I was crying and suddenly I was surrounded by an entire group of curious kids. All the attention was on me "are you ok?" "What happened?" "Why are you crying?". But I couldn't speak, I couldn't tell them to go away. Eventually they got bored and left me alone, so I quickly made my escape to the bathroom until I calmed down a bit. When I got back, strangely, I had found a chocolate bar on my desk. I had looked around, everyone had seemed to moved on. Then I made eye contact with this one girl who I always looked up to in a way, because she was always so nice to everyone. She smiled at me, and nodded. She didn't talk to me after to ask if I liked it or anything, she just smiled.

That small act of kindness got me through the rest of that day.

Sometimes I wonder if she is the reason why I pay so much attention to the little things that make others smile. And try to make an effort to make those things happen for those around me.

[mrtnvch]

back to regularly scheduled critters

[marimuntanya]

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

[haroldjaffe]

Small Kindnesses

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.”

-- Danusha Laméris, Bonfire Opera

[warlockofagnesi]

These fleeting temples.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The peach tree beams so red, How brilliant are its flowers!

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