Once upon a time, the younger Cate would leave poetry in random places. Mainly it was Adrienne Rich's Dedications. An excerpt:
I know you are reading this poem as you pace beside the stove
warming milk, a crying child on your shoulder, a book in your hand
because life is short and you too are thirsty.
I know you are reading this poem which is not your language
guessing at some words while others keep you reading
and I want to know which words they are.
To me, it encompassed everyone. Like she was reaching through the page and making sure you were not forgotten. I wanted people to find it and know that someone thought to leave it for them. I wanted to reach through the page.
More recently, during my activist years, it was homemade bumper stickers in public places. And messages written on dollar bills (I still do that one. Is that illegal?)
But I forgot about the poetry, about the kind words reaching out. MooMama has joined a project initially started (online, anyway) by a blog called Kind Over Matter, where they inspired her, too, to do a card drop.
You know how sometimes you go through a day or a weekend and you're so busy or grumpy that you forget kindness? I'm not talking to all of you, here, because some of y'all are so sweet that your sweat comes out as agave nectar. (I'm thinking of both Olivia and Amy at Five Flower Mom!)Me? I'm salty.
Sometimes I do have those days where I deal with someone in the retail sector and think of Ani Difranco's song, "Pixie",
Maybe you hate your job. Maybe you didn't get enough sleep. Well, nobody likes their job. Nobody got enough sleep....
So just suck up and be nice!
I need to be more nice, too. I have a confession: sometimes I'm friendly through my son. Little L is quite a polite boy. But because he's also striking (it's the dreadlocks and green eyes), people want to talk to him. And I'm sure that sweet boy has brightened many a day with his end to the conversation:
Have a great day!
Yes, we can all learn from our children. We adults forget that. We also forget kindness.
So let's start our own card drops. Find a quote, a poem, an inspirational thought and post it where needed. The grocery store cart. The rest stop bathroom. The bus station. On your walk through your neighborhood, tack it on a telephone pole.
And for the enviros: I, too, have the littering question in mind. Cancel it out by picking up trash. Leaving a thoughtful message is not trash; it's reaching out to another human being.
Isn't that what kindness is all about?
Image: From Olivia's card drop. Many thanks to her for being generous enough to share!
She has cards you can print out; Yay!
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