Live Slow Be Kind

These words were originally a Guest Post on the Be Well Coaching Programs site, July 2019 and have been edited. Thank you Cassie for sharing my thoughts with your readers.

 

This is a story about kindness and generosity.

So often in our busy lives, we forget an important thing. We dismiss the idea that some small act is more than a token of kindness to someone else. Yesterday, I was the recipient of such an act.

When busyness is the measure of time,

no matter how much time exists it is never enough.

Diana Hunt

We are constantly hunting down the next deal, the next best job opportunity, the newest movie. We are always looking for NEXT.

This is the reason I decided to take a morning off and head to the local Thrift Store. You probably have one just like it in your town. I would use Julia Cameron’s suggestion in The Artist's Way of having a creative day to re-juice. 

I would put away my keyboard to play. It is hard for most of us to stop. To be still. To reflect, appreciate, and see with open eyes. We are wrapped up in being the center of our universe and do not look into the eyes of others (often enough). (Tweet This)

I have been re-organizing my office/guest room/craft space into something more manageable. It is not a large room like what you sometimes see on YouTube as other crafters show you their divine spaces overlooking the treetops or the ocean. However, it is my haven.

Live Slow Be Kind - Jessica's "gift" of kindness

I have had my eye on a three-tiered rolling cart to store and keep my craft items near me. They could be rolled into another room with more working space and be transported in style. As I searched at the Thrift Store, I saw a woman with the cart I was looking for already in her shopping cart! “Darn, I missed it,” I thought to myself. Quickly I realized that if there was one, perhaps next time I would get lucky. As she approached, I said to her, “That’s a prize you found there!” To which without any hesitation, she replied, “Oh, please take it”. I was astounded!

She insisted that I take the rolling cart as she had also chosen a beautiful wire chair that she would put in her garden. I told her that I could see a large basket of potted flowers overflowing from the wire seat. "Will it sit in the sun or the shade?" I asked. We both smiled then as we continued talking about being creative, we were no longer strangers.

She was thrilled with the addition to her garden and I was delighted to get my rolling cart at a fraction of the cost. Then she obligingly allowed me a hug to seal the deal! 

We then had a ten-minute conversation about how I would fill the cart with my various containers of beads and trinkets, mixed media tidbits, stencils and stamps. She suggested that a person always arrive as soon as the store opens on the sale day. She had experience, I could tell! 

Jessica and I met in the most unforeseen circumstance but I hope that she felt my heartfelt thanks at her generosity. 

Without that pause of awareness, of silence, of connection, we would not have met and shared a few moments that lightened both our days.

Live Slow Be Kind. Each interaction deserves it and the benefit will warm your soul. (Tweet This). This is what happened to Jessica and me in the time we stood still.

Take care of yourself and stop long enough to notice.

What could happen today if you stood still?

Stay well, stay kind.