We often talk about simple acts of kindness, but we rarely discuss the profound impact they can have on us.
Recently I lost an earring and as is always the case in these events it was my favourite earring.
As a matter of daily practice I try not to get overly attached to things or events, impermanence is a state of being and a fact of life so I try as far as possible to accept these moments for what they are and not wallow in how I’d rather things were, ‘if only I’d worn another pair of earrings’, ‘if only I hadn’t fallen asleep on the long journey home’…
But still, it was my favourite earring & I felt a sadness, perhaps because it was a gift, it seemed to feel harder not to remain attached, and so as I knew exactly where I’d lost it I contacted TFL’s lost and found, submitted a description & didn’t in truth hold out a lot of hope, in the meantime I looked for a replacement, not easy when you are not replacing new pieces but to my surprise I found a single earring looking for a home (nowhere near where I’d lost mine so I knew it wasn’t an opportunist seller) and so once again I had a pair of favourite earrings with only myself and my husband knowing they were the same & yet different.
Fast forward a few weeks and an email out of the blue, my original lost item had been discovered & handed in and with a little inevitable admin was finding its way home to me. Somewhere someone I suspect cleaning the bus caught a glimmer of a small, shiny thing, someone, somewhere who could so easily have swept this item aside had picked this tiny thing up and set it on a course home, where others would log, keep safe and eventually return my tiny little item. But mainly someone I shall never knowingly meet was diligent enough to bother with a simple act of kindness that would make a stranger to them unexpectedly happy.
And perhaps that is the point, each day presents us with opportunities to commit to daily simple acts of kindness and the truth is you may never be obviously rewarded for these but you will know that in some way you used your energy to create something powerful, and powerful things often lie in the quietest of places, in the people we don’t see, in the words we choose or don’t choose to use. Notice how your body feels when you slow to let someone pass as opposed to rushing to get in front of them, they may never know the difference, but you will feel it.
And so, if you see the smallest of shiny things then remember it might be waiting to find its way home and you might just be the stranger to help it get there and somewhere someone practicing nonattachment will be secretly glad it’s found its way home, and that is the simplest of powers we all possess if we choose to see it.
Namaste
Suzy Gibbons Mitchell
October 27th-29th 2023 Pilates & wellness Retreat @TheRetreatNewForest
