This morning the Friday Writer's enjoyed our annual Pontoon Day along one of the lakes out west on Highway 7, don't ask me which. There were many delights of the day, naturally, and never enough time to write them all down.
It had been a while since we'd all been together (nothing rallies writers like a pontoon!) and so much to write about, given the pace of summer. What struck me most during check-ins was the mention of kindness: directly, indirectly, subsequently, in hindsight, humbling, life changing, and most importantly, the essential detail to every story.
On and off the page, we thirst for kindness; the offering and receiving, knowing and recognizing of said human elixir changes protagonists and antagonists alike. And subsequently, though rarely intentionally, changes the world.
So we wrote out our memories of recent encounters with kindness. I wrote about water, the way my Zumba teacher smiled at one of her students as they boogied in tandem, a fellow hiker patiently waiting for us slow walkers to take our time, offering words of encouragement to us all, small hands at summer camp offering high fives to bigger hands and vice versa. Someone offering an arm to steady a fellow walker on an incline. A peaceful walk with new friends. Loud hoots of encouragement to everyone on stage. The raw writing written and shared with others. A student offering her pontoon and lake for the day for all to enjoy. And on and on. It's endless. It's infectious!
Try it. Write out your recent kindnesses. You'll like it. My dad used to say, quoting someone, that petting a cat lowered your blood pressure. And of course! A reciprocity of kindness, a self generating energy of the heart, poetry in motion. So try it. It's good for you!
