this, given in reply to another, set here for myself, and any other who may read. very likely the most spontaneous thing i’ve ever written, i wept as i wrote it, i weep now, and i’m smiling at the same time.
crazy? maybe. i choose to think it’s important. for many reasons. reasons i will not ruin it by trying to explain.
for once.
cyncism is nothing more than bruised idealism, the deeper the bruise, the more cynical the result. but underneath it all, we still hope. it is the singular irony of life that we work so hard to protect hope when hope is the one thing that is, truly, indestructible, diamond. it can live without breathing. it can resurrect itself at the lightest breath of movement that is precursor to wind. it rises again and again like a phoenix, and the tragedy is that those who most vehemently, vociferously, insistently, and cuttingly insist they no longer have it are usually the ones clinging by fingernails… as if they need to cling at all.
if you want an object lesson in the truth of this, spend some time working with deliberation to try to kill hope. i think you’ll be surprised and perhaps even slightly awed at how eager it is to return at any opening.
if you’re looking for openings to see it, try any of the following:
– do something unexpected and completely kind for a total stranger.
– visit a pet adoption facility and commune with the animals waiting for homes.
– call someone you have ignored for a while and make a point of listening more than you talk.
– call your mother, father, sister, brother, and tell them that, regardless how it may sometimes seem, you really do love them.
– apologize even when you know you are right.
– laugh at the next terrible (really stinky bad) joke you hear.
– bring in bagels and coffee to work. enough for everyone in your office.
– next time you walk down a street with parking meters, drop a dollar into one that’s about to run out.
– thank a cop for being there, even if there’s nothing happening there.
– tip the amount of your meal to your next server, regardless the service. on a napkin leave nothing but these two words: Just Because.
– imagine that every moment, you have the potential to make life sincerely better for someone standing/sitting/walking/being right there beside you.
remember than everyone wants to be happy. no one wants to suffer. and regardless how it may sometimes appear, we’re all doing the best we can.
oh… and one thing more…
i love you…. just because. (soft smile)