Ripples

I saw a movie this week, "Beasts of the Southern Wild," that left an indelible on me as a person, so much so that at one point in the movie, I was holding in audible (and embarrassing) sobs. I felt so deeply and thickly the poverty some people live with their entire lives, that they can never seem to escape. And while we often use the cliché saying that "there are starving kids in Africa," this film showed that it is as much the case in our own city and country as it is halfway around the world. In truth, people are starving all around us, not just for food, but for affection, safety, attention, and education, to only name a few. And yet, some of the most unlikely of people face it all with bravery and a magnanimous spirit.

Sometimes when I am in bed at night and can't sleep, I started to wonder what my purpose and contribution will be (or even more haunting, what it was meant to be and if I missed it). Sometimes the most I accomplish after work is to go for a bike ride, cook dinner for one person (i.e., myself), and paint my toenails. But in those silent moments in bed, I often dream that I could one day be as big as to touch the world with a feel-better wand, that something I could do or say would travel far enough to make a difference. I have to remind myself though of the story of a group of people who were trying to safely move a piano. After much discussing and measuring, someone finally said to the group, "Just lift where you stand." 

As much as I would like to leave behind a legacy of humanity or compassion, I may have to accept my influence in a smaller sphere. I can simply believe, as someone once said, that I am responsible for the energy I bring into a space. So maybe the smile I gave a stranger in the grocery store parking lot, or the tone I took with a coworker, or even my own laugh floating across a room will unintentionally raise the spirits of someone I don't see. Maybe the ripples of these small things alone will circle wide enough to collide with the ripples someone else creates by lifting where they stand.

And if they do, then the world is covered.