Being a Person
“Be a person here. Stand by the river, invoke
the owls. Invoke winter, then spring.
Let any season that wants to come here make its own
call. After that sound goes away, wait.
A slow bubble rises through the earth
and begins to include sky, stars, all space,
even the outracing, expanding thought.
Come back and hear the little sound again.
Suddenly this dream you are having matches
everyone’s dream, and the result is the world.
If a different call came there wouldn’t be any
world, or you, or the river, or the owls calling.
How you stand here is important. How you
listen for the next things to happen. How you breathe.”
— poem by William Stafford
I was going to end this here but then I had to go to Facebook marketplace to mark an item I was selling as sold. The first thing that showed up was a post from a very dear friend. He’s not one to post much or to share ubiquitous stuff on Facebook, but this one was worth widespread notice.
Upon doing some research I learned the post originally came from someone named Spencer Seim. It may or may not be original, but the message is one we should all take to heart — not just now, but every day — forever. You’ve likely seen it already, but here it is:
“As the world fights to figure everything out, I’ll be holding doors for strangers, letting people cut in front of me in traffic, saying good morning, keeping babies entertained in grocery lines, stopping to talk to someone who is lonely, tipping generously, waving at police, sharing food, giving children a thumbs up, being patient with sales clerks, smiling at passersby, and buying a stranger a cup of coffee.”
Apparently, the reason Seim gave as to why this is important, particularly now: “Why? Because I will not stand to live in a world where love is invisible. Join me in showing kindness, understanding, and judging less. Be kind to a stranger, give grace to friends who are having a bad day, be forgiving with yourself. If you can’t find kindness, be kindness.”
And breathe.
drawn in by the stunning leaf images and kept by the poem. how lovely are the words. then, to read what the gentleman wrote about how he behaves in public. those words made me pondersome and sad because that’s the kind of world where my husband wants to live. he’s a people person and speaks to strangers of any age. if he sees a child with an unhappy face, he wants to cheer them. however, in the last decade, he has had to curb his enthusiasm because of suspicious mothers who don’t understand that all people are not predators. so, he bites his tongue to conform to this harsh world where we find ourselves.
Beautiful warm tones in this backlit leaf! Your one-word title means a lot to those of us in the States who have been holding their breath since Tuesday night! And today we could really smell the aroma of Autumn outside with the potpourri of withered leaves. Instead of buying a stranger a cup of coffee today, I bought an elderly lady the items she accidentally left in her shopping cart at the store and forgot to put on the cashier’s conveyor belt. It was nothing really, but she was just being honest. And I didn’t want her to get back in line.
“How we stand here is important.” Yes indeed. A good reminder that even though Team Blue won, I still need to be kind to those on Team Red. Otherwise, nothing changes. Beautiful post!