Everyday we are bombarded with signs, logos, and slogans! “Just Do it!” “We :Love to See You Smile!” “STOP” They shout at us from the radio and CD. They explode from billboards and our favorite magazines. Their images burn into our eyes from movies, Internet and television. They grapple for our attention. In the end, their sounds cancel out each other and leave us feeling numb, bruised, and tired.
Out of this blizzard of words, a very quiet phrase snuck up, tapped me on the shoulder, and caught my imagination. I first saw it on a t-shirt and then on a poster and then in a magazine article, finally on a bumper sticker. It is: “Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.”
I believe this breath of sanity will take hold of you as well. When it does, the whole world will be a better place. You might be asking yourself right now, “What are random kindnesses and senseless acts of beauty? How do we practice them? Can we really change anything?”
Random kindnesses are something you do almost by accident. It’s kind of a serendipitous event. Recently, I received just such a kindness. My friend, Gayle was reminiscing with her coworkers about a harbor tour she had taken here in Seattle. She mentioned that there was another cruise that went through Lake Union, the Ballard Locks (a fascinating experience going up or down as the water level is changed), and all around Elliot Bay. She longed to take that trip. A man overheard her conversation, opened his wallet, and wrote a pass for her and three of her closest friends to take the tour. He works for Grayline Tours, the operators of this cruise! He saw an opportunity to act out a random kindness. Gayle called me and a couple of other girlfriends. We had the most incredible day! It was a warm, sunny day, and out on the water the temperature was just right. The sky was so clear that we could see both Mt. Rainier to the south and Mt. Baker to the North. THAT WAS A RANDOM KINDNESS!
I used to work in downtown Seattle, and I prided myself on being able to look right past the panhandlers and bums. They slept right in the doorway of our building! They took baths in our restrooms. I felt righteous knowing that we donated to the homeless shelter and that if these people really needed help, it could be found. I’m not sure what changed my attitude. One old guy and his dog started sitting in front of our building. The guy had a cardboard sign asking for money. I started making an extra sack lunch in the mornings When I passed him on my way into the building, I quickly handed him the extra. I put stuff in his sack that would keep like granola bars and apples, along with tuna sandwiches and milk. The old man and his dog really seemed grateful. A couple of years later, the City of Seattle passed laws against “sitting” on the streets in order to clean up the “riff raff.” This old guy that I’d been feeding was interviewed. Turns out he was only 30 years old. Younger than I was. His life on the street had been so hard he looked ancient. This was a much too infrequent act of kindness.
So, what about “senseless acts of beauty?” Each year middle and high school students in the YMCA Earth Service Corps plant thousands of baby trees in the United States. Isn’t that beautiful? The employees of a local department store, Fred Meyer, participates in the “Christmas in April” program where they clean up the homes and yards of elderly residents who can no longer do their own work. The make repairs, paint, plant flowers, pull weeds and cut grass. There was an old guy that my son and I used to pass on our walk through the neighborhood. He dragged an old onion bag behind him as he filled it with trash from along the streets and sidewalks.