Acts Of Kindness

[Deleted member 33052]

Woot! Woot! Kindness!

 

[recoveringfromptsd]

@hodge The thing about this place is it is very hard sometimes to not have something come up that is triggering, its almost impossible not to have that happen, as one persons trigger is not everyone elses. As I said I am the one who needs forgiveness here, as I let my trigger get control over me.

The good news of all this is that not long ago I would not have been able to handle it safely. That's a huge improvement. But I have a long way to go in treatment by comparison. Maybe someday this stuff won't bother me anymore. I am tired of having to deal with this stuff. I just it would go away.

 

[Deleted member 33052]

I know that comment wasn't directed to me, but may I say that you have absolutely nothing to need to be forgiven for? You have terrible wounds that haven't yet healed, and this conversation laid them bare. I'm really sorry this happened.

@hodge The thing about this place is it is very hard sometimes to not have...

 

[Deleted member 33052]

This thread totally jumped the shark, so I'm just gonna lure it back. This is lame, but I paid for the order of the person behind me in the drive-thru. I only think this act has value because it encourages people to look beyond themselves. As I hoped, I heard him pay for the one after him. Lots of warm fuzzies for the cost of a coffee. :)

 

[joeylittle]

I don't think that's lame at all, @Mal Content. I think it's a good deed in a weary world, and those are never anything but wonderful.

 

[EmmaOwl]

Ok I have so many thoughts on all this; I'm going to try to get some things out as succinctly as I can and try to move on..acknowledging that this thread has been helpful and a good learning experience for me in more than one way.

@everyone please forgive me for being to sensitive about this.

No forgiveness necessary! I'm sorry I was a bit pushy on the topic... I was feeling kind of defensive - of course I did not want to cause any pain/suffering/trauma/triggers.
I'm 100% with Mal on this:

you have absolutely nothing to need to be forgiven for? You have terrible wounds that haven't yet healed, and this conversation laid them bare. I'm really sorry this happened.

Please don't be too embarrassed to ask a question. We are supposed to be non-judgmental, I believe.

Mal again: Well, I wouldn't want to miss out occasional good-natured ribbing amongst friends - at appropriate moments of course! In the meantime, thanks for explaining "First Nation". I had suspected it was a Canadian something but the phrase was too vague for me to google successfully.

in lieu of the thick skin that we were denied, let's try to remember that we all need to share our truths, and if hearing those truths cause us to feel a bit prickly, it's almost always a perception issue.

I have thought about that a lot today, and I was thinking, it's kind of remarkable, not the number of spats I have gotten into and/or observed on this site...but the number of spats I have seen *resolved* right before my eyes. It's really incredible.
Thanks everyone!
Oh one last! Mal- your most recent kindness! I agree with

I don't think that's lame at all, @Mal Content. I think it's a good deed

If you smile at someone, they smile at two others... etc etc. I believe these types of things have the potential to balloon out in a big way, and it could start with something as simple as acknowledging the presence of others in the world around us.
Awww....and then we get back all the way around to sappy - which is not necessarily a bad way to be.
Thanks everyone who's read through any or all of this.
I have this urge to say "It's been real" but I'm not sure how many others know that expression! ? It's slightly better than "I'm outtie!"

 

[Lola Nocheprieta]

I have been hiding from "real life" this past week, so I haven't had much opportunity for acts of kindness, other than being kind and loving to the people around me. However, your thread, @Mal Content, has given me new purpose in going out into the world in the coming weeks!

We regularly buy extra meals to give to homeless individuals, but there is something I've been meaning to do for a long time: random acts of art kindness, aka guerrilla arting. That is, leaving small pieces of inspirational art around in public places, addressed to "You. Yes, you!" I also love the idea of the sock tree. I think I will start that, and include some bits of art in the baggies, even if it's just a photocopy of one of my art journal pages with a poem or inspirational quote on the back. I work in a funny kind of neighborhood: there's attorneys and hipsters and junkies and children and homeless and business owners and dealers and college students and judges and families and professors and prostitutes, all in like a 4-block radius. There is not enough beauty or kindness, and often common courtesy and respect is in short supply. I can be the art fairy and sprinkle a little hope and beauty around the 'hood.

 

[Deleted member 33052]

You guys blow me away! Honestly, you do! I'm grateful for the opportunity to know you.

Here's my act of kindness. Some of your may have already seen my work. :) At random times, I will post positive comments on chat, for the next person who shows up. I don't know who will read them, but if someone is going on chat because they need comfort and no one is there, my messages might help them to feel a little bit less alone. Kind of like a message in a bottle!

@Lola Nocheprieta Random offerings of art sound fantastic!

 

[Deleted member 33052]

My friends, let's see if we can all perform an act of kindness this week. Love is the only thing that will save us from ourselves. Time to start spreading it around!

:hug:

 

[recoveringfromptsd]

@Mal Content Great Idea.....

 

[8888]

I trade postcards with other collectors. I had a postcard I didn't want so I'm sending to to someone for free. Also, another collector I trade with husband has recently died so I am sending her a sympathy card and 2 free postcards.

 

[hodge]

@8888 spurred this memory. This happened maybe a month ago, but thought it was worth sharing. There's a really nice young struggling single mom who works at our local convenience store. One time the subject of coins came up and she mentioned she collected coins but had never seen a buffalo nickel. I happened to have one in my desk drawer from probably childhood-- knew I was saving it for something -- so next time I saw her there I gave it to her. She kept looking at it and was delighted and said her kids would love it, too.