I’ve given up on the terms “selfishness” and “altruism”. Those words assume we are individuals with debts and credits in a karmic bank account that can be exchanged. Kindness, especially forgiveness, is a communal experience including even onlookers* and crossing generations. There is no point measuring it. It overflows all containers.
I remember picking up the couple in the evening as I entered I-95 in central Maine. I figured they had to go to the next town, but their destination was one hundred miles further north. They were as tired and messed up financially as I was. She was well along in her pregnancy.
That was so long ago it feels like another lifetime. I drove them to their apartment which was as rundown as the farmhouse room I was renting and left them with a smile. They never stopped smiling back.
WITHOUT MEASURING
AUTUMN SUNLIGHT OVERFLOWS
ONTO EVERYONE
*I realized this after reading Sarah Connor’s post “Kindness — haibun for dverse”.
Text: Linked to dVerse Haibun Monday. Toni is hosting with the theme “kindness”. I am also linking this to Debbie Roth’s Forgiving Fridays.
Photo: “Bright Leaves Bright Light” by the author.
Poetry, Short Prose and Walking 