Dreamscape Jewelry Design

November 11, 2018:The Power of Kindness

These last few weeks have been challenging ones, both personally and in our own country. Personally, its been a rollercoaster of emotions, when our 99-year-old patriarch and dad has struggled with a serious illness.  He’s once again rallied and maintains his positive, “can-do” attitudes, but the the days were long and the stress was high.  What sustained me through this time were the acts of kindness that came from friends and strangers alike.

Some acts were simple, like the housekeeper at the hosipital, who, knowing drank coffee, brought me a steaming one, without asking.  Another couple, close friend of ours,  brought dinner over and spent the evening helping us polish and prepare our jewelry pieces for this week’s show.  Supportive phone calls, facebook texts, and hugs all helped to sustain and rejuvenate my energy during a difficult time.

At the same time, our country faced more tragedies last weekend in the horrific shootings in a synagogue and this week’s violence in a dance club in California.  We can become fearful and tainted about our country, and began to question the goodness in our neighbors.  Or, as I need to do, we can focus on what I believe is the essential nature of our species, and that is kindness.  In my blogs and on our websites, I like to be inspired by quotes.  This week I searched for ones on kindness.  There was a treasure trove to be found, from Aesop to Lady Gaga,  and it was hard to choose which ones to share.  These are some of the ones that resonated in my heart.

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1. Together we can change the world, just one random act of kindness at a time. Ron Hall

2. Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe .in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you. Princess Diana 

4.What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness? Jean-Jacques Rousseau

5.There’s nothing so kingly as kindness, and nothing so royal as truth. Alice Cary

6.Kindness, I’ve discovered, is everything in life. Isaac Bashevis Singer

7.The level of our success is limited only by our imagination and no act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted. Aesop

8.Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom. Theodore Isaac Rubin

9.I believe in the spirit of equality and the spirit of this country as one of love and compassion and kindness. Lady Gaga

10.Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness. Lucius Annaeus Seneca 

11.Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end. Scott Adams

12.The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines. Charles Kuralt

I finish this blog with the intention to keep on creating and observing acts of kindness.  It gives me a focus, just like when I seek to photograph the beauty in nature, to celebrate acts of kindness that beautify our world.  And I believe we can make a difference.  Like Indira Ghandi said,“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

I also have to share one last one by Harvey Ball: “The catch phrase for the day is ‘Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile.’”

 Photograph our our granddaughter Zoe by Kate Criscone Fine Art and Photography