For in a world often fraught with challenges and uncertainties, it is kindness that illuminates our path, guiding us towards a brighter tomorrow. So let us embrace kindness as both a virtue and a purpose, weaving it seamlessly into the fabric of our lives, enriching not only our own existence but the lives of those around us.
Kindness and Purpose: Lessons from Childhood Dreams
In January of 1986,
I was a high school freshman. Technically, I was still in jr. high since the Arlington School District used to put grades 7-9 in middle school and then 3 years of high school. I graduated from Sam Houston High School, home of the fighting Texans! But in 86′, that was all messy early teenage angst and the year we transitioned from jr. high dweebs to legit high school sophomores. 1986. I had already forged a few incredible friendships back then that continue today.
That summer was also my first “summer of love.” I rode my bike across town everyday to see my girlfriend and first true love, Jasmine. We spent long days out by the pool and nights catching movies at the Forum 303 mall. The world didn’t matter. The total downers of life were only in existence an hour or two a day. The rest was all teenage paradise.
We had the most excellent music and totally awesome movies, like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
1986 was also a year that I found myself determined to minimize my time wasted in the drab and mind numbing classes of school. I could do so much better educating myself by being out there, you know, in the real world. I got a job. I started driving. I started living the most adult life a fifteen year old boy could live. Ironically, it all really started after I saw the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off that summer. I wanted to be as resourceful and in the moment as Ferris was.
1986 was a significant year for me. It was a time I became fully self aware and a year I experienced life at a higher level. I was making decisions and learning what it meant to be an adult. I didn’t mind the hard work. I was having an incredible time morphing into something more than just another pimple faced high school student. I was in command.
Now that I am diagnosed and in treatment for depression, since December of 2017, I also see lifelong patterns and recognize certain major events or times in my life where my depression was acting quietly, within me, insidiously, and quite destructively. Turns out, 1986 was a year that at least a part of me recognized something wasn’t right. But back then I was too young, too fast, too smart for it to take hold. I got good moving through life at warp speed, keeping so busy, nothing could catch me. Not even those demons I would occasionally see in my rearview.
My youngest children are of the same age I was in 1986. My oh my how things are different. Don’t for one minute think this new generation has it easy compared to the latch-key generation. Maybe they don’t know how to burn a CD but the pressures they deal with because of social media, the constant threat of an active shooter, and well, the world we are leaving them are far greater and more real than the cold war era threats, gang issues, and figuring shit out on our own kinda problems we dealt with.
I picked up my youngest daughter, Leia from school early today. She was feeling awful with stomach issues. She has Celiac disease so this is a common issue for her.
Nevertheless, I thought it might be fun to play some of the Ferris Bueller soundtrack as I was picking her up. We made the movie required viewing for all our kids. It got a smile. I remember my principal would occasionally, when many people starting missing school for the flu or strep, let it be known that we were not having a schoolwide Ferris Bueller day off. I guess once the flu started to spread, many of us, I mean many people from my school would take advantage and fake the symptoms to get a day off. Leia wasn’t faking today. But, I can’t say I blame her if she does opt for the free pass every once in awhile.
By the way, for all you Stranger Things fans, Will and his crew are all expected to graduate in 1989. That was me. They represent our awkward and totally awesome class of misfits and malcontents. Thank you for that.
So, today’s #TBT is actually the whole Ferris Bueller’s Day Off soundtrack from 1986. Link to the Spotify playlist is below. It goes out to the friends who helped me become a better person back then and still help me today. Our own little Breakfast Club. But that is a soundtrack for another Thursday.
It also goes out to all 4 of my kids as they make lifelong friends and figure out their way in this crazy upside-down, fast-spinning ball of confusion. The paved path is fine. But the alternatives are so much more fun. This generation seems to have that concept hard wired. And, that’s a good thing!
Be love. Be kind. We are all connected.
Life is better with a soundtrack…
and the occasional “mental health” day off. So if you take one, don’t sit at home and binge watch The Office. Get up! Get out! Ask yourself, what would Ferris do? And spread a little kindness around while you are at it.
So to all my friends, especially the ones who would occasionally miss class with me to head to the waffle house, or fly to another state with me, I love you. I have nothing but gratitude. Danke Shoën!
#kindness #purposefulkindness #drivingawaydepression #WhatAWonderfulWorld #hope #peace #joy #love #streetlights #grace #TheKindnessClub #lifeisbetterwithasoundtrack #weareallconnected #findingjoy
#AllMyEmptySpaces
#tbt #saveferris #FerrisBueller #Cameron #dankeshoën #FerrisBuellersDayOff #GenX
Have you ever seen the movie Field Of Dreams? It’s a great story about redemption, forgiveness, regret, and hope. But it also speaks to just how connected we truly are. At least I think so. Well, it has a part in this story. But let me start with an event that occurred a couple of months ago and perhaps just a little background information.
Part I The Struggle
Thanks Wayne
We are living in very uncertain times. It feels like the whole world is on fire. Plus, we all have our own personal fires to worry about. This can be overwhelming. This IS overwhelming.
Besides worrying about the current state of our world, our country, and our deep divisions, like many of you, I still have my own challenges. And, everything feels like the sky is falling and crushing me, crushing us all.
It was late in the day. I had just come from my physical therapy session which was an epic fail. I felt defeated. I began to wonder if I would make it to 60. I am 52 now.
My disease has progressed. I get sick to my stomach after most meals. I now use a cane because my balance is so screwed up and I am dizzy all the time. My brain is foggy. And then there is the unrelenting pain. All of which makes managing my clinical chronic depression increasingly more difficult. Hence, my lack of writing and posting stories as often as I used to.
Well, the night is my companion.
And the highway is my home.
Got me seekin’ for one last beacon.
Every single place I roam.
I arrived at Walgreens to pickup some prescriptions. But after I parked, I sat in my car crying and beating the dash, the steering wheel, the roof, and the passenger side seat. An elderly man walked by and pretended not to notice.
The present has been so troubling I have been living in the past, constantly thinking of my younger days, my glory days. I have even dreamed of being back in high school, playing on the varsity soccer team against a huge rival. I remember running. God, I loved to run. I felt so invincible then, so alive, so free.
And then there are all the memories of my flying days. My friends and I would hop in a plane and head to another city or just go up for a cruise around downtown Dallas. That city has a wonderful skyline all lit up at night. Anyway, you get what I am saying. The past is where I prefer to dwell and dream. And, those dreams have been vivid.
If we can’t be kind to each other, what’s the point?
I pulled myself together and headed in to get my scripts and a few other items. I turned the corner near the shelf where the Nyquil was and there he was, the man who walked past me during my in-car meltdown. Fuck.
Now at this point I was molding that pain into anger and I did not want to interact with another human being except the pharmacy technician.
I sized him up with one glance and knew any interaction with him was going to be frustrating. But the man was standing right in front of the damn Nyquil as if he knew I would be coming for it.
He was wearing jean overalls and a worn t-shirt. He had on a Texas Rangers cap that looked like he purchased it back when George W. Bush was a partial owner and still drinking a ton of scotch. By the look of his jaw and lips set further inward it was clear he had no teeth.
He smiled and warmly greeted me. But I wasn’t having it. Just get out of my way and let me grab my Nyquil.
“Feeling under the weather today?” He added after his initial attempt to engage. Finally I relented and offered a brief but polite retort, telling him it had been a hell of a day.
And within seconds he began to tell me about his day. He had been doing yardwork most of the day. I kept the back and forth brief and politely told him, now that I had my Nyquil in hand, that I needed to head to the pharmacy in the back to get some prescriptions. Heavily leaning on my cane, I wobbled off to the pharmacy.
There was a decent sized line and I was already in alot of pain but I needed my meds. The next thing I know, Wayne, as he had introduced himself back in the cold and allergy section, had walked up to the counter and spoke to the pharmacy technician and pointed back at me. I couldn’t hear what he said but Mohammed, the tech, looked back at me and recognized me. “Mr. Carlson, I will keep your place in line if you would like to sit down,” said Mohammed. I was relieved and did exactly that. Wayne came over and sat by me. Turns out, he was waiting on scripts of his own. And so we began talking. I got to know Wayne a little and as we sat there talking, my anger slowly began to dissipate.
Wayne used to be a trucker. He used to work for a meat company and made deliveries everywhere. He is now retired. And, at 82 he keeps busy by mowing his neighbors yards. Speaking with a toothless mouth, he joked about how his wife warned him not to go out and talk to people in such a state because they would think he is a crazy person. But his big smile and friendly demeanor more than compensated for the lack of gnashers. Besides, one person’s crazy is another person’s uncle joe.
He didn’t feel like putting his dentures in just to go to Walgreens. We both chuckled. I told him how I thought what he did for his neighbors was very generous and kind. His response struck me. He simply said, “If we can’t be kind to one another, what’s the point?”
I asked him about his Rangers hat and if he thought they would beat Houston in the ALCS championship to make it into the world series. Without skipping a beat he said “Chris, we are gonna win the world series! It’s a done deal.”
Wayne has lived in the Arlington area since the 1970s. He has been going to Rangers games since 1972 when they moved to Arlington and became the Texas Rangers. They had played in D.C. as the Washington Senators for 10 years before that. I too have been a Rangers fan having grown up in Arlington only a few miles from where they play. I remembered going to Arlington Stadium as a boy for day games. That place had absolutely zero shade and it could get very hot. But going to baseball games just seemed like something everyone did; it was a normal communal activity.
About a half hour past by before it was time to get my scripts. But in that half our I found myself enjoying this conversation about baseball and forgot, just for a little bit about my pain, anger, and sorrow. And, as crazy and divided as we are right now, I felt a sense of community and kinship with this man who had made enough small hints and comments for me to recognize we are on opposite sides of the political spectrum. In that moment I didn’t give a shit. This man showed me kindness and he is my neighbor, part of my community. We are connected.
Wayne likes to bring his prescriptions in and wait while they fill them. So he always spends about an hour or more in the store, chatting with employees and customers alike.
So at this point, I have a question, well, two questions really.
Do you believe in angels? What is your idea of an angel?
I can tell you from my own experience, angels come to us in many ways when we need them most, but often through other people, people like Wayne. His kindness that day was the little miracle that gave me hope for both my personal journey and for our current political discourse.
When I was 12 or 13, I remember being upset about something. Perhaps it was over some of my great insecurities as a boy. But that night I walked outside in the hot summer air. I walked into the street under the streetlight and asked if God was real. Right after I challenged God for proof, the streetlight began to flicker and went out for a few seconds, then flickered back on. I know, sounds corny, right? But ever since then, anytime I drive by a streetlight that begins to flicker, I take it as a reminder that God is active in my life. And, he is saying hello, keep going. I have your back.
The unambiguous logic of ambiguity.
Yet, the struggle continues. There just ain’t no quick fix, easy button, free parking option in life. This shit is hard. And it hurts. It hurts so fucking bad. It’s kinda funny though, there are definitely moments when I don’t know what hurts more, my personal struggle or our shared trouble of division, hate, fear, and violence.
We are losing this war we are waging against ourselves. No one of us is absolutely right about anything we are fighting over. That makes the case for the unambiguous logic of ambiguity, and why noone should be ambivalent about it.
Lyrics to this next song are incredible to me. Here is a partial copy of them. Let me know what you think.
Truth
“I’ve seen a million numbered doors on the horizon
Now, which is the future you’re choosing before you go dyin’?
I’ll tell you about a secret I’ve been undermining
Every little lie in this world comes from dividing
Say you’re my lover, say you’re my homie
Tilt my chin back, slit my throat, take a bath in my blood, get to know me
All out of my secrets
All my enemies are turning into my teachers
Because, lights blinding, no way dividing what’s yours or mine (ooh)
When everything’s shining (ah)
And your darkness is shining
My darkness is shining (ah-ah-ah)
Have faith in ourselves
Truth“
The sun had set while Wayne and I spoke. As I drove home, two streetlights began to flicker as I passed under them.
Oh, as I left the store Wayne’s last words to me were, “Hey, you are going to be ok.” He said that as confidently as he did when he said the Rangers would win the world series.
The Rangers beat the Houston Astros 5-4 in Houston to go up 2 games to none that night.
Something magic was starting. And, while I was thrilled about the Rangers, that magic was stirring in me. Perhaps this was the spark I needed. I have been on a serious losing streak.
It’s easy for all of us to get so caught up in our own shit that we forget everyone else has challenges too. It’s also easy to miss the opportunity to make a friend, have a positive experience, or simply be open to the grace all around us. That, is when we lose hope. Sometimes we are left with nothing but the tender mercies of others. It’s okay. That is why we are all connected. That was by design.
PART Ii The Scars coming soon.
Be love. Be kind, because we all continue to struggle in one way or another.
Life is ALWAYS better with a soundtrack.
#kindness #purposefulkindness #drivingawaydepression #WhatAWonderfulWorld #hope #peace #joy #love #streetlights #grace #TheKindnessClub #lifeisbetterwithasoundtrack #weareallconnected #findingjoy
#AllMyEmptySpaces
#StreetLightsOnASaturdayNight
#TBT a day late.
This one comes to you from 1994. Do you remember what you were doing then?
It was a year of transition for me. 94′ was a year that sort of redefined my life. I had left the Navy and began searching for what was next. I was in neutral. But, we are never truly in neutral, are we? Nevertheless, here I was, 23 years old, single, and seemingly invincible.
I was full of imagination, ideas about how to change the world. Yet, I still lacked a certain compass. I had demons that I kept at bay and I was just fast enough to think I was fully in control. With that bloated sense of strength and intelligence, that ego, I moved through life very fast indeed. Still, I had no real sense of where I was headed. 1994 was the last year of my adolescence in a way. Because in 1995, I became a father.
There is nothing on this earth to give you a sense of your own true north, a sense of direction and purpose, a true destination if you will, than becoming a parent. That purpose and sense of direction has repeatedly saved me from augering in more times than I can count.
Then, I met the love of my life and had three more children. Talk about motivation, purpose, inspiration, hope, joy, love, peace, and all things good and wonderful in life. Holy shit, I am a lucky SOB.
And yet…
There are still demons that chase me. In fact, they have caught me more than once. They caught me again recently. When they do, it’s like they are mountains of pain and darkness that cast a shadow over everything good in life and place themselves between that goodness and me. I become sysyphus pushing the boulder up the hill knowing if I can get it to the top, all the love and joy is on the other side of the mountain waiting for me.
But, like sysyphus
I keep falling down and losing control of that big rock just before the apex.
And so it has happened again. The rock came crashing down with me along with it. The mountains win again.
Depression is a shit deal. Add that to chronic pain and other serious health issues and you have yourself, as doctor Ian Malcom in Jurassic Park put it, “one big pile of shit!” I just love a good movie quote, don’t you?
As I lay here in my hospital bed recovering from yet another physical setback, I realize no matter how hard I try, there are some things in life I cannot control. You can’t push on the ocean and you can’t move mountains. And You Don’t Mess Around With Jim.
But I sure can start pushing that boulder back up.
Now here is the big reveal, the profound message that struck me. The mountains aren’t real. The boulder is my own burden. It is my own delusion that was born from my own mind. Oh, my health issues are as real as they get. But they are not barriers keeping me from joy and love that seem to be on the other side of the mountain range. No, the boulder, the mountains, and all the other things that cast shadows on me are just my mind, my pain, my depression, my fears, and even my vanity.
I have been struggling to write for many months. Writing is my therapy and one of my greatest weapons/tools to counter the confusion and darkness. I have had this growing collection of incomplete garbled scribbling I am calling, The Struggle, The Scars, And The Silver Lining.
This hospital stay is, well, part of the silver lining. This experience, while very difficult and traumatic, has also been an amazing breakthrough. I have been reminded that God is very much active in our lives and works through people, and everything that surrounds us. I have been awakened from the coma in which my demons have kept me captive.
The fog has been lifted and the power of clarity is once again my saving grace, my silver lining.
No matter how dark it gets, no matter how tall and menacing your mountains are, and no matter how heavy your boulder of burden may seem, the truth is you are not alone. The truth is all those loved ones, all that joy on the far side of the mountains, they are all with you right where you are.
There is no mountain. And, no matter how tough life can be, no matter how big that pile of shit may get, you are not alone, ever.
I am looking forward to sharing the story with you. I am hopeful. I am up off the mat and ready to fight again. And I know the truth.
We are all connected. Life is love.
So, be love. Be kind.
AND, since life is better with a soundtrack, here is your #TBT, a day late as usual, coming from 1994, Blues Traveler, The Mountains Win Again (but we know that’s bullshit).
#kindness #purposefulkindness #drivingawaydepression #WhatAWonderfulWorld #hope #peace #joy #love #streetlights #grace #TheKindnessClub #lifeisbetterwithasoundtrack #weareallconnected #findingjoy
#AllMyEmptySpaces
#
Whew, this great ball of confusion is only spinning faster and faster. Some days all we can do is hold on. Otherwise, we get flung off and hurtle into space. Is it just me, or does it seem like anxiety starts creeping in before you even get out of bed?
It is so very important these days to lock onto a few positive anchors to keep hope alive.
What are your anchors? Music is my daily, if not hourly anchor. I also find myself spending time growing things. With the whole world tearing itself apart, growing is a healing process.
I must tell you, another positive anchor for me, and my wife, Mindy, is Ted Lasso! Apple TV every Wednesday, new episodes. Here is a short read about Ted Lasso from The Michigan Daily that says it all.
“Ted Lasso” will continue to be there for me. Every time I rewatch an episode, I gain new perspectives or lessons. Whether I laugh at one of the oddly specific pop-culture reference or realize how poignant Ted’s advice of thinking like a goldfish is, this show made me believe in the restorative quality of television again. But it’s more than just a series. It’s there for all of us when we need something to push us back on course. When we need someone to tell us to believe that there’s still good in the world, to believe that things will work out in the end and to believe in ourselves, “Ted Lasso” has our backs.”
That show always helps me see the world in more positive light.
This week’s song was featured in one of the Ted Lasso episodes a couple of weeks ago and it still resonates. Oh, and the song came out in 1977, the same year Star Wars was released. It also happens to be, May the 4th be with you, Star Wars day!
So find your positivity, wherever you can. And checkout Ted Lasso!
Be love. Be kind. We are all connected.
Life is better with a soundtrack.
“Rise up this morning, smiled with the rising sun
Three little birds pitch by my doorstep
Singing sweet songs of melodies pure and true
Saying, “This is my message to you-ou-ou”
Singing, “Don’t worry about a thing
‘Cause every little thing is gonna be alright”
Singing, “Don’t worry about a thing (Don’t worry)
‘Cause every little thing is gonna be alright!”
#kindness #purposefulkindness #drivingawaydepression #WhatAWonderfulWorld #hope #peace #joy #love #streetlights #grace #TheKindnessClub #lifeisbetterwithasoundtrack #weareallconnected #findingjoy #streetlightsonasaturdaynight
#AllMyEmptySpaces #TedLasso #BobMarley #3littlebirds #everythingisgonnabealright
#TBT
#TBT from February 10, 2018.
This Uber trip popped up in the FB memory machine today. I know I am a day late and a dollar short, as usual.
Speaking of dollars…
My passenger, David, demonstrated a powerful tool for purposeful kindness. Besides being a brave soul, working in open space on the top of a 325 foot oil derrick and rollercoasters all over the country, David is also a true Kindness Warrior.
From 2018…
Just dropped off David at the tattoo shop. David paints rollercoasters. Over the next three months he will be painting the oil derrick at Six Flags! It was too cold and windy today so he is getting a tattoo of a rollercoaster wrapped around his arm. Now every time I pass by over the next 3 months I will know who is up there working.
He was sitting in the back right seat. At a traffic stoplight, David slid over quickly to the seat behind me and began rolling down the window. The sudden move was a bit alarming but then I realized he was giving the homeless man standing on the median a few bucks.
I smiled at him and said that was a kind thing to do. David told me he always puts a few bills in his wallet specifically for that purpose and he ALWAYS manages to find someone in need. When I asked him what motivated his kindness, he simply said, “I have walked in his shoes.”
Good luck David. And, thanks for the reminder to be purposefully kind.
Happy Friday, Kindness Warriors.
Be love. Be kind. We are all connected.
Life is better with a soundtrack!
So here is today’s (yesterday’s) #TBT song. Actually, here are two songs.
1st, here is Bruce Hornsby’s The Way It Is from 1986.
“That’s just the way it is.
Some things will never change.
That’s just the way it is.
Ah, but don’t you believe them.”
Things don’t have to stay the same. You can be the change.
This next song, and meeting David reminds me that we don’t “have to” do anything, we “get to.”
We GET TO work. We GET TO make a car payment. We GET TO do the hard things in life. There is always someone who has it harder.
“I got it bad
You don’t know how bad I got it
You got it easy
You don’t know when you’ve got it good
It’s getting harder
Just keeping life and soul together
I’m sick of fighting
Even though I know I should
The cold is biting
Through each and every nerve and fiber
My broken spirit is frozen to the core
I don’t wanna be here no more
Wouldn’t it be good to be in your shoes
Even if it was for just one day?
Wouldn’t it be good if we could wish ourselves away?
Wouldn’t it be good to be on your side?
The grass is always greener over there
Wouldn’t it be good if we could live without a care?”
Wouldn’t It Be Good by Nik Kershaw, 1984.
#kindness #purposefulkindness #drivingawaydepression #WhatAWonderfulWorld #hope #peace #joy #love #streetlights #grace #TheKindnessClub #lifeisbetterwithasoundtrack #weareallconnected #findingjoy
#AllMyEmptySpaces
#tbt
“Just a world that we all must share.
It’s not enough just to stand and stare.
Is it only a dream that there’ll be,
No more turning away?”
Friends,
It has been minute…
The Kindness Club is a small group, but growing! For those new to the group, I thought I would introduce myself and provide a little background. My name is Christopher Carlson and I created The Kindness Club group from my blog, StreetLights.
I first began writing and posting under the StreetLights banner in 2018. Prior to that, I shared stories on my personal Facebook page.
Several writing sources for this new Facebook page of mine converged in December of 2017. Coincidentally, I was suffering major depression and sick all the time. This was what could have easily been the end for me. I almost lost my family and my life.
Almost…
My favorite subject is hope. And hope is what saved me in the coldest, darkest winter of my soul. That, and the kindness of strangers.
I started driving Uber to supplement our income after making a major career move that failed miserably. In August of 2017, I began driving full-time.
I immediately embraced the work and became truly inspired by some of the people I met. My last trip was March 18, 2020 as Covid had begun. After over 6,200 rides, throw in another 100, or so, Uber Eats trips, I can honestly say the number of really bad experiences was countable with my 2 hands and I had 1 finger to spare. Or maybe I should spare the thumb? OK, 9. It was 9 times. 9 trips out of 6300 really really sucked. Hey 1 trip out of every 700 trips is awesome! And they make for great stories of respect, safety, and the truthiness that some people, ain’t actually human.
I was diagnosed with Clinical Depression in that cold December of 2017. In fact, December 5 was my day of clarity, my miracle, (Also my rock bottom a bit earlier in the day.) I don’t want to drag on about my disease. Again, just providing a little background.
Driving became my therapy. Being an Uber/Lyft driver connected me to thousands of people and stories, short snap-shots into their lives.
I knew I had to begin writing and sharing these experiences. And because my interactions with so many people, with so many life perspectives were also a saving grace for my own life journey, I felt called to share my personal struggle with depression and recovery.
So let’s see… Oh yeah! Inspired by this new supercharged connection to my fellow humans, and as I surveyed the recently uncovered lifelong patterns of depression and destruction, life all of the sudden shifted at the tectonic level.
I started to figure out the purpose, the why am I like this, the wtf aspects of my life and finally realized what path I needed to be on.
There is joy in depression. We shine our lights back to help others get through. Someone shined a light for me. That’s just the way it works. Helping=joy. Kindness=joy.
All things through kindness! All things!
So it only made sense to create a place that is by design and by rule, about kindness. Let’s throw in love, respect, a safe place, a NON-judgy Mcjudgerson dominated, NON-opinion blasting, online equivalent to at least 1 ring of hell, place.
WHEW! You lost me after #TBT, bro.
So here is the message and the #TBT song for today, Thursday, February 2, 2023.
In order to succeed on your journey, our journey, our path, our purpose, and our hearts must be dedicated to love and kindness.
If you ever wonder what your purpose is, look around you. Listen. You are connected to everything and everyone. You are the bloom.
PURPOSE is not a profession. Purpose is not static. Each and everyone of us has a purpose, a billion purposes!
Each other. Our purpose is each other and Mother Earth (and all life in the universe, if you want to get all existential).
Every living thing on this planet and beyond. That’s a pretty frickin’ awesome purpose.
We overcomplicate, well, EVERYTHING!
We worry and consider, which is good but not without a decision point.
We create way, way too many expectations.
We get caught up in arguments and divisions.
We totally screw up other people and our environment.
We continually fail to act, work, live, and humbly serve each other with PURPOSEFUL kindness.
This is important! This next part is really important! Like breaking news important! Like history making important. Like Oprah Important!
We are all connected.
That is how it is. That was the plan. We are individuals but also part of humanity, and part of all living beings. So it’s really that simple. If you want the sense of purpose and the joy in knowing that purpose, don’t search within yourself. Your purposes are always all around you.
Fair warning: When you begin living your life in the now and with kindness as your oxygen, you will feel great joy, hope (Yay, hope! It’s my favorite!), and peace.
But with a strong connection comes emotion, fear, anger, sorrow. Some is yours. Some are the burdens of others that affect you too.
So when you are leading your actions, words, and decisions with kindness, or rather, through the kindness filter (Probably an app for that) you will find life more challenging, but so, so much more fulfilling.
We need you. The world needs you. Your presence, your kindness creates a ripple effect. The world needs the ripple that joins other ripples to make a wave, which can build to a tsunami of love and kindness. Heck, yes! Make kindness goals and action plans.
Share stories of kindness. Post the pic of the dog and cat hugging. Be supportive and uplifting. Everyone in this Kindness Club needs and deserves lots of those hug and care emojis, lots of hearts, all different colors! A kind word or two…
So, welcome new Kindness Warriors.
Get up! Get out! Go spread kindness and change the world!
Be love. Be kind. We are all connected.
Life is better with a soundtrack.
From their 1987 album, A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, this week’s #TBT song is On The Turning Away, by Pink Floyd.
The lyrics resonated with me. We all turn away. It is going to take an effort to rid ourselves of the familiarity and tolerance of unnecessary suffering. We can, one act of kindness at a time.
“On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we won’t understand
Don’t accept that what’s happening
Is just a case of others’ suffering
Or you’ll find that you’re joining in
The turning away
It’s a sin that somehow
Light is changing to shadow
And casting its shroud
Over all we have known
Unaware how the ranks have grown
Driven on by a heart of stone
We could find that we’re all alone
In the dream of the proud
On the wings of the night
As the daytime is stirring
Where the speechless unite in a silent accord
Using words, you will find, are strange
Mesmerised as they light the flame
Feel the new wind of change
On the wings of the night
No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
It’s not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there’ll be
No more turning away?”
#kindness #purposefulkindness #drivingawaydepression #WhatAWonderfulWorld #hope #peace #joy #love #streetlights #grace #TheKindnessClub #lifeisbetterwithasoundtrack #weareallconnected #findingjoy
#AllMyEmptySpaces
#StreetLightsOnASaturdayNight
If this last year has taught me anything it’s that you must accept change and adapt.
This great ball of confusion never stops turning. If anything, it only spins faster. If you don’t learn to roll with the changes, you will fly right off into space like a kid flying off a merry-go-round spinning too fast.
As difficult as it may seem, each one of is is capable of adapting and moving forward. Life is beautiful.
But…
On occasion, life serves up a big steaming pile of $H#!. At that point you have a choice. One, you can keep pushing on the ocean and drown. Or two, you roll with the changes and find the silver lining.
Please trust me on this. As many shit sandwhiches as I have had to eat in the last few years, I know this to be true:
There is always a silver lining!
So when you find yourself devastated or pissed off at the world, remember that we are all with you because we too know what it feels like to be smashed like a bug and expected to carry on.
With that said…
Be love. Be kind. We all need a little empathy, a little sympathy, a little help from time to time. We are all connected. And that is how we survive this ever changing, ever challenging life.
Life is better with a soundtrack!
Today’s #TBT song comes from REO Speedwagon’s 1978 album You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can’t Tuna Fish. Oh my, that’s deep!
Do your thing, Kindness Warriors. Be intentional with kindness today and know that one small act might just ripple into something grand like world peace. At the very least it can change one person’s trajectory. No augering in on your watch! Hold that door open, let that car into your lane and be proud!!
#kindness #purposefulkindness #drivingawaydepression #WhatAWonderfulWorld #hope #peace #joy #love #streetlights #grace #TheKindnessClub #lifeisbetterwithasoundtrack #weareallconnected #findingjoy
#AllMyEmptySpaces
#StreetLightsOnASaturdayNight
October is my favorite month of the year. I love the changes in colors and the cooler air. I feel more alive. But with that fresh picked joy comes some intense emotion and anxiety. It’s the same every year. I feel greater joy and greater anti-joy at the same time.
There is a powerful connection with the beauty of the world, of life, that is heightened in this transitional time of the year. Its truly a wonderful thing. And, it happens all throughout the day.
A cool breeze on a bright sunny day.
A colorful scattering of leaves below a giant oak tree.
A song on the radio that perfectly sets the tone for driving along a scenic 2 lane country road with more of those colorful leaves swirling under the tires of my car.
In these little moments throughout the day, I am continually injected with joy and wonder.
It makes me want to reach out to people, to reconnect. It inspires me to live in the moment while simultaneously sparks a raging fire of dreams and ideas. Even a rainy day like today makes me feel alive. There’s just no better month than October, if you ask me.
That’s the upside.
The downside is, along with all of the wonder comes the darkness, the anxiety. I feel an avalanche of sadness, a rush of memories, and a full spectrum of emotions. Then comes the second guessing and wondering about all those decisions through life, if they were good or bad. Did I live my life as best as I could and am I living it now as good and purposeful as I can be?
This intense battle always ends the same way. I settle into a fog of confusion and exhaustion and I usually camp out there for a week or two.
One of the biggest obstacles of living with depression is the constant attacks on my own self-worth and the questioning, the constant questioning of my purpose in life.
Pattern disrupted.
This year is a little different. I have already been in the fog of darkness and confusion for months. I got hit head on and sideways with some pretty awful stuff. That is definitely what has been keeping me from writing, until now. This year, October appears to be the month of my salvation. The fog is clearing.
The light is flickering, struggling to come on. I am still here. I’m still struggling, but alive and kicking.
I started this on a rainy Monday. I am finishing up on Tuesday after a stormy night. We lost power for several hours.
So as I go back to square one, here is my Monday message to all…
Be angry. But be compassionate.
Be opinionated. But be educated.
Dream. Don’t ever stop dreaming. But be present.
Be spontaneous. But don’t be reckless.
Be the light, the bright star, the flame. But don’t burn out.
Find your balance.
Most of all,
Be love. Be kind.
We are all connected, ya know.
Life is better with a soundtrack!
So here are a couple of songs to start the week out. Stormy Monday seemed appropriate. The second one is from the musical, La La Land. I have to admit, I really loved that movie. Emma Stone’s “Audition” really spoke to me this week.
What did it say, you ask? 🙂🎶
You tell me. These are the lyrics that stirred in me. What does it say to you? Have you done any dreaming lately? Have you done any living?
“Leapt, without looking
And tumbled into the Seine
The water was freezing
She spent a month sneezing
But said she would do it again
Here’s to the ones who dream
Foolish as they may seem
Here’s to the hearts that ache
Here’s to the mess we make”
#kindness #purposefulkindness #drivingawaydepression #WhatAWonderfulWorld #hope #peace #joy #love #streetlights #grace #TheKindnessClub #lifeisbetterwithasoundtrack #weareallconnected #findingjoy
#AllMyEmptySpaces
#StreetLightsOnASaturdayNight
Life is…
Hard. Difficult. Painful. Isolating. Lonely. Beautiful. Full of light. Loving. Precious. Inspiring.
If you have ever felt any of those emotions, one thing is certain. You are alive. We tend to build walls to protect ourselves from the painful parts of life. Constantly we build those barriers, brick by brick as life wears us down.
Those barriers can also keep out the light, hide the beauty and awe of your life. If walls you must build, be sure to leave some space between the stones, maybe even a window or a door. And remember this:
We are all connected.
So don’t create your own prison. Reaching out to others in kindness is still the most powerful medicine to heal your broken heart and hurting soul.
We can’t do this alone. Reach out to someone. Connect. For you. For them.
Don’t let these walls keep you from love and joy.
Get up. Get out. Go spread kindness and beak down the walls.
“I’ve been here many times before
Don’t know which road I must go
My mind is full of so many thoughts
My heart beats on and on
All my love, all my love, oh
Have you been here many times before?
Do you cut your wings so that you’ll fall?
Can you break on through to the other side?
Do you tell yourself things that ain’t so kind?
Can you feel the worms wiggle in my mind?
And these walls, they won’t crumble
And they won’t let me get out of here
And these walls stand so tall
The flowers they’ll all disappear
And the voices surround me
Again and again, creep behind me
Bringing me down
Bringing me down
And these walls, they won’t crumble
And they won’t let me get out of here
And these walls twist and turn
The devil inside me returns
As he smiles towards me
Again and again, holds me, chokes me
Burning me down
Burning me down
Burning me down
Down”
Be love. Be kind. We are all comnected. Life is better with a soundtrack.
#kindness #purposefulkindness #drivingawaydepression #WhatAWonderfulWorld #hope #peace #joy #love #streetlights #grace #TheKindnessClub #lifeisbetterwithasoundtrack #weareallconnected #findingjoy
#AllMyEmptySpaces
#StreetLightsOnASaturdayNight
StreetLights 