These words have made all the difference.
Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Yesterday I finally did what I set out to do.
It is my way of being part of the cloth.
I began my volunteering at the Loma Linda's Children Hospital.
My heart is full.
I am so grateful the universe still supports me even when I procrastinate.
Kindness.
Artwork - A marker drawing I made at about age four. I remember sitting at my dad's work desk when I drew this.
Poem - CLICK HERE to see the complete poem by Naomi Shihab Nye. Originally I was given a copy of this poem, but lost it. When I searched for it, I ended up finding, not only the poem, but new blog friends, too!!
Ah, Jenny, thanks for the link back. It's absolutely one of my very favorite poems!
ReplyDeleteYour welcome, Dan. It is my pleasure. This poem has been a huge part of my life in the past year. I was grateful to have found it again on your blog.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on starting volunteering! I've done a lot of volunteering in my life and found that the primary beneficiary of my efforts was me! I hope your heart fills and overflows with love as a result and that the overflow of love washes over countless people....
ReplyDeleteAs a kindergarten teacher, lots of people have volunteered in my room. It's a win-win for everyone, teacher, volunteer, kindergartners. So good.
Now, about your four year old drawing... it's really remarkable. I love the colors in the flower on the left. What's the brown line under that flower? Do you remember drawing it?
How is it that it was saved and you still have it?
Thank you, Dan. I have been wanting to do this particular type of volunteering for some time. For some reason I kept dragging my feet. Finally, yesterday the first official day. I was angry at myself for procrastinating, but the beauty of it was I couldn't have started on a better day. Yesterday was a special day where Santa rides into the drive way on his Harley, followed my a hundred other bikes decorated with stuffed animals and tinsel. This particular group donated hundreds of toys for the kids. I got to witness this event and I felt very blessed.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I have the BEST memories volunteering in my daughter classrooms from Kindergarten to 5th. I loved it!
I am touched that you like my drawing. I am not sure how I have held on to this one so well. I do have a few other childhood drawings tucked into old scrapbooks my mom put together YEARS ago. And the brown line - I must be honest in that my eye didn't even pick that up until you pointed it out. It does look like it was placed there with great intention. Maybe it is a worm? :)