Hello Kind Living Friends!

The haiku above is part of an ongoing practice of mine having to do with the Tao Te Ching. Each week, I read several interpretations of one of the book's 81 short chapters. After considering these versions for a day or two, I adapt the chapter into a poem consisting of 3 stanzas, each with 3 lines.

Unsurprising, my focus is on creating an interpretation of the Tao through the lens of kindness. So my 9 line poem has a kindness bent.

On or around the first of each month, I revisit three of my poems and work to simplify them further, this time into haikus. The haiku above is based on my poem from chapter 24 of the Tao. I offer it here as encouragement for us this week to bring heightened awareness to the lovely gifts provided to us each day by nature.

Hear the birds, smell the flowers, enjoy the sunrise or sunset, fill your lungs with fresh air. It's glorious, isn't it, especially when you take a minute to notice?

You can find an archive of my Tao of Kindness poems here. On Friday, I'll be adding my kindness-based interpretation of chapter 70.

Enjoy this normal day!

 

FROM THE ARCHIVES - Twilight Zone Kindness

I often look for fun and creative ways to deliver content and a few years back I had the idea to present kindness themes through the lens of the classic TV show "The Twilight Zone." My idea was for participants to watch an episode of the show and engage in a related act of kindness.

The first episode I used is the pilot episode for the series. Called "Where Is Everybody?", the episode addresses the impact of being isolated. If you have a way to watch the show, I encourage you to do so and engage with the kind action recommendation here.