I saw a piece of paper fluttering under my car windshield wiper yesterday and flew immediately into an anxious fury. If that is a ticket, I thought, the city is going to hear it from me. The car is neatly and squarely situated in my regular parking space, which just happens to be located directly in front of the terrible crack in the sidewalk which caused me to perma-break my foot three years ago, and which the city has made no attempt to fix whatsoever.
But it wasn't a ticket. It was this:
I stood there and looked at it for a minute, and then I looked around, half-expecting the person who put the note there to be watching and waiting for me to discover it. They'd be waving big with both hands at me from an upstairs window and I'd wave back and say, "Thank you! Thank you for everything!" But there was no one there.
I was so utterly delighted, though. I bounced up the stairs to our place. "Look at what someone left for me!," I exclaimed to Patrick. It's exactly what I needed, I thought. I'm not gonna lie. The past few days hav sucked, as much or more as any day has in a long time. But suddenly I wanted to be nice to everyone and smile at strangers and tell someone how proud I was of them. I wanted to tell all of you to love yourselves and forgive yourselves. I hoped that nothing bad ever happens to anyone I love.
Why would we not be kind, when it takes hardly any extra effort? Why do we waste energy attacking people and tearing little angry holes in them and in ourselves? Why not tell your friends and family that they are dazzling and that something they did counts. It would take five seconds. Why not remind someone that they are awesome, even if you don't know them. It might mean everything.
