~ random acts of kindness ~

Hello friends....I know, three posts within a weeks time! I'm on a roll here.

This post is something a little different...no pictures.

You heard me...no photos, but please stay with me.

I would like to share a little something with you.

Years ago I found this quote by Princess Diana and it struck a chord with me..

Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.

I thought about it for quite sometime and one day it just began.....

I was finding myself performing tiny random acts of kindness.

Nothing big...just little things like buying a cup of coffee for the person in front of me at the bakery. Or paying the $1.00 bridge toll for the car behind me when I crossed the Hudson River on my way home for a visit to NY.

Little things.

Very often at the shop if someone admires something from my personal stash and I think they will really appreciate it...it's theirs!

Again..it is usually something very small....I am not giving away dressers!

Most times the acts are anonymous....the receiver never knows it was me.

But once in a while I am gifted with a personal story and when this happens..

I understand why these random acts matter so much.

  This week while instructing a workshop, a woman wondered back into the studio.

I noticed that she made a straight path right to my stash of vintage linens that I use for my sewing projects.

She picked up a beautiful 1940's kitchen tablecloth and gingerly unfolded it.

I noticed the delight in her face and knew what was coming next.

"how much is this?"...she said.

I nicely explained that it was not for sale and that I would be restyling it.

She asked me what I was going to do with it and that she might be interested in purchasing whatever I created.

We talked about our shared love of vintage linens and she told me she had all of her family's heirlooms linens. 

As she spoke, I could tell she truly appreciated what she was safeguarding...

pieces of art.

My could feel my heart plump up just a bit as I handed her the beautiful tablecloth.

"here...I would love to gift this to you" I said.

That's when the reality and beauty of this 

Random Act of Kindness

thing presented itself.

The woman looked at me and told me I would never know what this meant to her.

She went on to share that she had just completed her regimen of Chemotherapy and Radiation for breast cancer and this was the very first day she felt good enough to join the real world again.

There was a reason she picked this day and my shop, The Empty Nest, to venture into.

I am convinced this was not random at all.

So there we were..me crying....the ladies in the workshop crying and lots of hugs being shared.

The best thing about random acts of kindness...

THEY FEEL SO DARN GOOD!

Take a moment during you busy day and look around you.

I bet you can find something, even a tiny something you can do for someone today.

You may never know how that simple act has the power to change the world.

But, more than changing the world...it will change you.

Until next time...be KIND and stay creative!