Tom says that love loves to love love.

Some days, it can feel like the entire world is Darth Vader, beckoning us to join him on the dark side.  And I get that because it’s true, there are a lot of sad things.  Bad things.  Mean, dark, catastrophic, tragic, and disturbing things out there in the world.  And that darkness can be so powerful.

But there are also so many people in this world with beautiful hearts.  People who drench the world in love and kindness, people whose radiance brightens even the darkest of corners, people who remind us that the best and most beautiful things grow up out of the dirt.

Today, Jeannett told us about how she’s helping her kids to cultivate kindness and to grow up to be good-hearted citizens of this world.

I want to raise kids like that– to care for the hearts, souls, and minds of others.  And I want to be like that, too.

Today, Chris explained that you don’t know what you don’t know about a person and you should act accordingly.

Word, Chris Lema!  There’s so much more to the people that surround us than we could possibly see at first glance.  Thanks so much for the reminder!!

Last night, Lara wrote a whole post meant to encourage you.

Seriously, how nice was it for Lara to use her insecure writer’s support group time to tell other people that they are awesome?!  Talk about giving back!

A couple days ago, Dawn shared some really beautiful words that have made an impact on her life.

Dawn literally shared the most beautiful contents of her hand-written journals and gave us all a way to carry those types of words around with us.

And finally, a heartbroken momma has chosen to use her grief to inspire so many through The 19 Days— a time to honor her beautiful baby girl, Avery, through random acts of kindness this October 5th through 24th.

I will be performing 19 random acts of kindness and with every one, I will think of that sweet little girl and her huge hearted mom and what an amazing force for GOOD both of them are in this world.

As my brother tells me James Joyce said, because I never would have known otherwise (Tom is very well-read), “Love loves to love love.”  And it’s so true.  Like water follows salt (it’s science), love follows love.  Kindness follows kindness.  And goodness follows gratitude.  (Maybe that’s science, too?)

These days, the negative is still there in the news and on my Facebook feed, but I’m listening more carefully and taking the time to be more observant of the quiet undertone of goodness and love beneath it all.  And I think that this is part of the Christmas present my dad created for my sister, brother, and I last year.  It was a beautiful slide show set to music in which he juxtaposed images of absolute disaster and tragedy with the powerful and unknowable presence of God.  If God’s not your thing, think love, spirituality, humanity, kindness… think everything good that is.  It’s always there, even when it seems like it’s not, like it couldn’t possibly be.  You just need to listen for it, look for it, try your hardest to feel it all around you.  If Bridget can find it through her daughter’s death and Chris can find it in an elevator on the way to deliver a speech, I imagine it can be found pretty much anywhere and everywhere.  What good luck!!

And sometimes, a little kindness toward yourself first can help you look later.  Pedicure, anyone?!

 

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7 thoughts on “Tom says that love loves to love love.

  1. I really like a song by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros called “I Don’t Wanna Pray.” The line I like is “I’m looking to become not the prayer but the prayer.” (as in, not the one who prays but the prayer itself). Also, speaking of kindness, everyone should watch Derek on netflix just for the last episode. Amazing.

    1. Wow, Aimee– I LOVE that line! What a great way to start my own quote book a la Dawn!

      I’m conflicted now about Netflix. I’ve been boycotting them for so long (I’m still holding a grudge over the dumb thing with trying to split the DVDs from the streaming). Perhaps I should consider letting it go if this Derek show is that good…

    1. No, Lara, thank YOU for sharing so much joy! I love reading your blog, I can’t wait to read your book (seriously disappointed it comes out AFTER my vacation next week– I imagine it would be especially fantastic if read poolside…), and I’m so glad to know you!!

  2. My reaction at seeing that I made it into one of your posts is best summed up with the following bit of dialogue from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou:

    Klaus: Thank you for putting me on the flag, Ned.
    Ned: Of course, Klaus. It was my pleasure.
    Klaus: Yeah, but you stitched me onto the dolphin, and I want you to know how much that means to me.
    Ned: Well, I’m very pleased you liked it.
    Klaus: Y-You’re not listening. I didn’t just like it. [Klaus salutes Ned] You understand?
    Ned: Yes, I do. [Ned salutes in return] Thank you, Klaus.

  3. Rachel- honored again to be included here;) thanks for sharing all your favorites and being such an encouragement and voice of kindness. Your use of the Internet/social media for good is just what keeps me on here! My biggest problem these days is having time to read everything !! I also LOVE that you include being kind to yourself. And I LOVE your dad’s gift! How cool!

  4. Did you know “like likes like” is a chemistry thing? My friend was trying to gasoline out of a running shirt (she left it on a bench on a hot day and when she got back, it was soaked in gas–weird, right?), so she soaked it in baby oil and it got most of the gas out. Totally unrelated but you’re a chemistry nerd 🙂

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