If You're Feeling a Bit Down, It's Not You...

Sending love across the interwebs....

Dear Friend,

I don’t always send out an email so close to a past email, but I understand there are a lot of struggling with what’s happening in the world right now.

Here’s what I have—and it’s simple advice: be present.

Hold open the door for a stranger. Give an extra generous tip. Smile at someone you don’t know. Say hello. If you have the means—pay for someone’s coffee order or their lunch. Leave a poem in a library book. Walk over to the house of a neighbor you know may need a little help and see what you can do. Pick up litter.

In the big picture, these are tiny (tiny!) acts of kindness, but they matter.

I understand there are things happening in the world that bring us stress and scare us. But I was reading

Natalie Serber

’s newsletter where she went to hear Barbara Kingsolver, who said when asked, “Are you hopeful,” —I’m hopeful because you have to be. We cannot give up. We must work at it. Hopeful is something you do. It’s your job.

I love the idea of hope as a job. I love the idea that we can see something better for all of us.

I shared on Facebook that a random stop at a small winery connected me to a man who had written “I want to learn more about poetry” in his journal the day before. When he learned I was a poet, he said, “How did I find you?” and “Do you have a card?” (I did not.)

It’s a super-small moment in a larger world, but it felt more significant. Please look for those moments. Please understand if we lived in a world where we each respected and took care of one another, this would be an amazing place.

So be that person.

Here’s a photo of Washington State trying to be as cool as New England:

Thank you all for being part of my community. I rarely randomly send these out haphazardly, but tonight I felt as if I just wanted to send out a little love to let you know, in the worst instance—we’re living through history, But in the best instance, we’re connecting with each other and making it through the dark. Be the spark.

Love, light, poetry, and getting through each day,

~ Kells

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