Beauty. Memory. Youth. Kindness.

EXERCISE 091: WRITE TO SOMEONE

you something beautiful

Write an epistolary poem to someone who showed you something beautiful which you maybe otherwise would never have encountered or considered beautiful.

Thank you, RR. You introduced me to the beauty of a yoga practice. The beauty of a yoga practice centers on quieting the mind. The beauty of a yoga practice celebrates the union of body, mind, and spirit. The beauty of a yoga practice is about strength and knowing and breath. We traveled to Bali. I learned about offerings and healing and New Years. You opened a world of flowers and incense and rice terraces. I bathed in healing waters and listened to healers. I would never had made that leap without you. I say that with absolute certainty. My understanding of beauty exploded and magnified through your guidance. 

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EXERCISE 092: WRITE TO SOMEONE YOU MISS

or some place

Write a letter to someone or some place you left a long time ago.

I recently visited Austin, Texas. I had not returned to Austin since I graduated in 2003. Austin has definitely changed, but the heart of the city remains. Live music. Hill Country. Barbecue and breakfast tacos. Hike and bike trails and football. More than all that, Austin reminds me of my power. Austin reminds me that I finish what I start. Austin reminds me of the importance of community. Austin reminds me to pay attention.

I lived in Austin on September 11, 2001. It was the week of my final written exams for my doctorate. I was writing about Piaget’s theory of disequilibrium at a moment of profound disequilibrium. I was writing about education as a path toward wide-awakeness at a moment when wide-awakeness meant navigating the pain of our world. I was writing about educational philosophy and history at a time when the philosophical and historical foundations of our nation and our world provided context for the political upheaval in which we were living. Austin reminds me of that time, too.

I miss the optimism I felt at that time. I miss back against the wall determination. I miss faithfulness and fearlessness. I miss the belief in the goodness of my country and the people in it (while acknowledging the privilege of holding that belief). I miss the innocence and wide-eyed hope of a world before empathy was ridiculed, people were torn from our streets, and the constitution were attacked with an abject force meant to crush dissent. 

My recent visit rekindled something in my soul. The spark of belief in something bigger than my own fear. The strength of the shoulders on which I stand. The breath that connects truth and action. The fire the fuels our dreams. 

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EXERCISE 093: WRITE TO SOMEONE YOUNG

you know well

Handwrite a letter to the youngest person you know well.

I recent exchange with a favorite Young Person I Know Well:

YPIKW (Young Person I Know Well) — What would you do if your [X] posted this? [See screenshot of politically-charged social media post.]

KSC — Breathe, first. Breathe, second. Breathe, third. Realize we live in a broader culture, bigger than individuals propelled by something I cannot/won’t justify or understand, of hate and cruelty that makes all of what we are experiencing really horrible and scary. You are not wrong for feeling what you are feeling.

YPIKW — I feel so lost.

KSC — I feel lost right now, too. I am thankful for that because it means I am alive to the pain of our world and can do something about it. One loving interaction at a time. One act of creating something that is driven by love not hate. One joyful moment that guides me away from absolute cynicism and despair. Find connection and joy. 

Let joy be your rebellion.

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EXERCISE 094: RECREATE A MOMENT OF KINDNESS

a photograph of you

Think of a specific moment when you learned kindness. If there were a photograph of you in that moment, what would the photograph look like?

It is difficult to zoom in on one moment where I learned kindness. Kindness was in the zeitgeist of my childhood. Love one another. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Make me an instrument of your peace. That was what I learned. That was what I learned. That was what I learned. Talking about kindness has never been more important — at this time when empathy and truth and love are under attack. I am going to write about a recent example that continues to teach me to pay attention, see, and live kindness. 

I am one of about 25 or so people who regularly volunteer at a food pantry in our neighborhood. Each Saturday and Tuesday the food pantry is open and serves the neighborhood and our city. It is on a bus route, so people come from all around. We do not ask for proof of need. We simply serve hundreds of people each week. We set up tents of produce and bread. We provide people their choice of bags of food — one that requires a kitchen to prepare or one that does not. A family of 4 can receive 2 pounds of meat and 2 bags of food per visit if they so choose, for example. The people who receive food are me. In a very real way. We are connected in the way that we breathe the same air and tree roots secure a tree’s survival. There is kindness in the implicit understanding there is no separation. There is kindness in that these are moments when signal cuts through noise and we take care of one another. There is kindness in the reminder of humanities fundamental goodness. 

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EXERCISE 095: WRITE TO SOMEONE KIND

Life-changingly kind

Write a letter to someone who was life-changingly kind to you, and who probably doesn’t even remember the event, the kindness.

Dear JCH, 

There is not only single event I can point to where I felt your kindness most clearly. Your kindness is kaleidoscopic in the way that shards of glass allow us to see 1 million different pictures of grace and empathy and love. We met during a service project building bookshelves in an elementary school at the launch of AmeriCorps. You were a Points of Light YES (Youth Engaged in Service) Ambassador. I was an inaugural AmeriCorps Member. You arrived at that day having graduated from Notre Dame breathing service through every fiber of your entire being. With neighborhood guidance and support, you founded a children and youth center in the east side of Indianapolis in 1996. That Center flourishes today, having served generations. 

You amaze me JCH. Your joyful leadership. Your love for every path you cross — people and animals and our earth. Our friendship has seen moves and marriages and children. Our friendship has known time and space and constancy. Our friendship has been built on the fundamental belief in service. Your example of kindness is life-changing in that it does not flinch or ignore the magnitude of need or sit still in face of all that is. You breathe kindness like air. I grew up learning to lead by example. I grew up learning that actions speak louder than words. I grew up working toward the better world. That is what you live. Every. Day.

Love, Katie 

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