Guys, please don't think that St Val gets me all soft- hearted. Far from it.
It's people like Aunt Peaches and Lori that do. Let me tell you how those ladies inspire me, will you?
Lori recently received a lovely gift from somebody who would not disclose their name, so she can't thank the person properly.
Instead, she decided to do some sort of informal giveaway to everybody who wants to participate in what she calls
Pay It Forward. She agreed to send everybody who commented on her post a little gift, but in return, everybody has to do random acts of kindness to random people in random situations.
Leaves a lot of room for inspiration, doesn't it?
I have vowed to dedicate all next week, beginning with St Val's day, to random acts of kindness and tell the world about it in the hope that it might spark something. You know, that little extra bit of patience in the queue at the supermarket till, hittig the brake rather than the gas pedal when you see somebody who wants to cross the street, putting out bird food when it's darn cold rather than just think "yeah, I really should..." but never actually get 'round to doing it.
My first RAK will be something quite odd, and I'll do it tomorrow. First day of my proclaimed week of kindness!
My neighbourhood is very small. Lots of tiny streets with semi- detached red- brick houses, many of them inhabited by students and some of them freshly bought by what you might call young professionals.
Some houses are more looked- after than others, and only few are lucky enough to have a garden. Bless our house, it HAS a garden, and I often think that the garden would deserve people who would put a lot more care into it.
I know just the right set of people, even though I don't think I have ever seen them in person.
They live only a stone- throw away, in a house that looks a lot like ours. What makes it stand out is the grand display of countless flower pots arranged at both sides of the door. It's like whoever lives in that house gives a big "so what!" to us ignorant folks with gardens that are ill- cared for.
I walk past that house every day on my (short) way to work, and it always makes me feel good to see those tons of flower pots and the care somebody has put into them.
So, to cut this short, I will tomorrow go and purchase a little bag of flower seeds. I have ceramic pots and soil knocking about, and I shall make a little, oh, I don't know, pansie pot? and secretly park it among the dozens of pots around that particular door. I'll leave a little note just thanking the "gardener" for always putting a smile on my face, maybe on the back of the seed pack or so. And with a bit of luck, that person will also smile and have a really good day, who knows. Or maybe they'll never know there's an extra pot, but I will, and it'll be my secret :)
Right, that's one RAK sorted, only 6 to go. Any ideas?
Another thing that makes me go all fuzzy is an idea Aunt Peaches came up with.
Aunt Peaches had a little
last- minute challenge up the other day. Send a Valentine to three people also participating in the challenge.
No later than Feb 10, so I have already screwed up, but I was really busy!!
I don't think I've ever sent a Valentine in my entire life, so this was a chance for me to experience something new.
I've been busy today whipping up something half- decent, and here's one of the results, the rest is yet to be finished. The first card I ever made, with acrylic paint, glitter and beads strung on wire.
Don't let the pictures fool you, once the glue is dry, there won't be white splodges, and without the flash, the whole thing doesn't look like a slice of bacon, either.
I just hope my Valentine has some use for those little earrings!
So go on, folks, be kind. Maybe thank the postie for doing such a good job delivering your mail in every weather, or feed some stray cats in your area. You could give some stuff to your local charity shop or hop over to your granny and listen to all those old stories all over again.
Maybe you could drop into your local newsagent/ corner shop with a cuppa coffee and thank the staff for infallably opening the shop at stupid o'clock in the morning so you can read the paper over your breakfast. Or tell your wee ones' teacher how much of an impact their work leaves on your little treasures' mind. Heck, you could even leave a beautiful card in the book you bring back to the library with a nice little message to the stranger that reads it after you. The possibilities are endless.
Be creative, and be sure you tell the world about it. Not to make yourself look better but to inspire somebody else to be just that little bit more kind.
If I can do it... it'll be a walk in the park for everybody else.
Love y'all, peeps!
