sorbet day flipped
February 23, 2007
I have a Starbucks Americano and snow is forecast. I love the snow. I always feel good when it’s snowing. I want to be a snowflake when I grow up—if I grow up. I’ve got Keith Jarrett’s Tokyo encore on the player (from the Sun Bear Concerts, a $90 purchase I do not regret).
Listen, I just got an e-mail from someone I do not know. This person wound up on my sorbet list and dropped me a line—an “unrequired kindness” that made my day: “I am on your list, but you won't know me... I wake up Friday mornings and often, (not always, but often) think... oh goodie, Sorbet Day. Thanks.”
For some reason this choked me. Slayed me. I reacted with such a humbled, overwhelming gratitude. Way too emotional, but I guess you have to listen to those feelings when they happen. And so, who ever you are, and wherever you are, thank you for that note. You gave me a "sorbet" back and it hit right in the heart.
I owe a debt of gratitude to LCF, who coined the term “unrequired kindness.” Kindness, when it is not required, unexpected – when we step out of our own damned egos, and place someone in our sphere above ourselves, is, I think, something of which the Dalai Lama would approve. It is giving gifts by placing the parcel on the doorstep, ringing the bell, and leaving--walking away without a backward glance. The giving is all that matters. Not the recognition that you gave. Ah, I blather. I hope for more snow.
If you want to be included on the sobet list, walk over to the "sorbet" page on this site--no pushing--and follow the instructions. Everyone is welcome.
Finally, congratulations to all the CBC Poetry Face-off contestants who performed their poems yesterday...I stuggled as a judge. You were all brilliant. Special congratulations to Ms. Kerry Mulholland who took the day and now goes on the national competition with her graceful, and subtly hard-edged poem--"Canada's border with the US is not a straight line--it's curved like a closed eye" (okay, this is from memory and it's a paraphrase, but I loved the picture).