Disruptive Compassion

Be kind always.

I believe a person should be kind whenever possible; as the saying goes, it is always possible. Be kind to everyone, Man and beast alike.

It is easy to be nice to people who can do things for you. It feels right to be nice to those who are beautiful, and sometimes people find it easy to be kind to those who can help them.

But, it is more important to be kind to those who can never pay you back. Be nice to the downtrodden, and be nice to the unfortunate. This is how you disrupt the evil in the world.

Radical Kindness.

Disruptive Compassion.

Smile at the person who looks grumpy. Ask the person who looks like they’ve been crying, and actually listen. I have had days where I’ve burst into tears because the cashier at McDonald’s was nice to me; it felt like it turned my life around.

My mother calls this staving off the heat-death of the universe. It may not be possible to save the world, but you just might be able to save a life with your kindness.

Be kind always.

Hemingway and Rock

As I sit at my computer, listening to Cheap Trick, it occurs to me that I have arrived. No, I’m not published yet, but I wrote a novel. I spent every spare minute writing and writing until it was all there. I did it.

Now, I’m at the hard part- revisions and editing. I’ve never made it to this stage before with any of my writing. Usually, when I finish a piece and go back and reread it, I just feel like crying.

Not this time.

I think it’s different this time because it’s so personal to me. I’ve had to take a multi-pronged Hemingway-esque approach to it.

1. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.

2. Write hard and clear about what hurts.

3. There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.

It’s been so hard, and yet so easy to get it all out of my head. The words want to flow out of me like water. I just have to be near something to write with when it happens.