Kindness
“After awhile, said Cyrus, you’ll think no thought the others do not think. You’ll know no word the others can’t say. And you’ll do things because the others do them. You’ll feel the danger in any difference whatever—a danger to the whole crowd of like-thinking, like-acting men. What if I don’t? Adam demanded.”
East of Eden, John Steinbeck
Inspiration
Did you pick a word for this year? It’s a resolution for the new year, in a word. It’s another avenue for self-improvement. A mantra, a meditation in mindfulness, in just one word. To be better than before, to do better than before. To keep trying. I have chosen gratitude and forgiveness before. This year I chose kindness. I don’t think of myself as unkind, but I can be. Often it is a protection to cover that fragile place of vulnerability. I can find it tantalizing as a replacement for anger. A reward for getting even after a petty misunderstanding. The always unjust places of pride and arrogance can spew unkindness. How can being unkind be so right, when later it feels so wrong. It’s so borderline, the knife blade is sharp, it can cut. The blade slices while the rest of the knife just follows along. I’m trying not to follow along, to break the pattern. To keep the knife dull, it makes it more difficult for a fast, clean cut.