In the summer of 2016 I went to the beach with my wife and son, who was seven years old then. A cool thing happened there, and I shared it on Facebook in this post:
August 26, 2016 · Black Mountain
We just took Mason down to the beach. He plunged into the ocean and was having a great time without us, so Deanna and I sat on the beach for a while and caught up with ourselves and each other.
Meanwhile, three buff teenage boys hit the water with a volleyball and started hitting it around to each other. Mason watched them in obvious fascination.
After a few minutes, the ball flew in Mason’s direction, and he retrieved it and threw it back. The guys smiled at him and casually made him welcome in their circle. He worked the periphery for about a half hour, and the guys occasionally tossed it in his direction and chatted with him.
When it was time to leave, I stopped them and thanked them for their kindness. Not every group of teenage boys would make a little guy welcome, but these guys did. I told them that I saw that and that kindness to little ones is extremely classy. We all left feeling good.
It’s a small thing, but I think it’s important to #calloutkindness. Don’t despair, friends. There’s plenty of it in the world. It doesn’t show up on our screens too much, but it’s there in 3D.
And regardless of how much of it we think there is or isn’t, our best response is to do what we can to add to it by stretching in that direction ourselves.
Here’s to everyone who is stretching, and that’s a lot of people.
#CallOutKindness
That post got a lot of attention, and suddenly it became clearer to me how important it is to share these stories, in addition to sharing stories of things that are wrong and need to be righted. These stories are also true, and their existence is proof that we can do better. We have that capacity. That leads to hope. Hope leads to positive action, and positive action leads to a better way.
After I posted that and people reacted so strongly to it, something shifted for me. I found that I was tracking small kindnesses as I went through the day. I started to notice them and tally them. That helped me not to despair, in the face of so much that needs our attention in the world. Despair leads to inaction, and inaction doesn’t lead anywhere good.
I created this web site (with the help of folks at Kudzu Brands and Tomatillo Design) as a place where we can share these stories. There are no ads, and there’s no cost. That’s all it is, a place to share stories that may lift our spirits a bit.
So here’s to hope, and to the power of small stories. Thanks for being here.