KINDNESS AND SORROW

 Written April 2020


Kindness and sorrow. Are they linked somehow?  As friends, or even closer - as sisters?

It is something to ponder and sit with and move around to see from different angles.

I have known deep sorrow, and it did indeed carve a large, gaping hole inside. At first the hole felt cold empty, lonely lost

Then something new crept in quietly, unannounced, thru a side door I didn’t know was there.

One day, I smiled and I saw myself smiling and was mildly alarmed. Am I allowed  to smile? Am I dismissing my pain? Doesn’t it have any meaning?

So many questions - yet this new lighter feeling took its own space in the large gaping hole and shone a light in that corner A small light - a light of hope, and possibility. A slight easing of the coldness.  A nod to change.

And how did that smile creep in? Was it the kind look of a friend? Or the wag of a friendly tail? Or maybe just a small glance of beauty, which is the kindness our earth offers,

In these uncertain times, every tiny kindness I witness or receive hits deep inside and causes reverberations - echoes of other kindnesses.

It lands very softly and yet also with great force. It startles my eyes to tear, and my heart to warm and I feel grateful to be alive, to be human.



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