There’s been a meme, or a couple of them, floating around Facebook and the internet lately stating things like ‘In a world where you can be anything, be kind’ and ‘You don’t know what someone is going through so be nice’, or something like that. We don’t really know, as we encounter people what, if any impact we will have on someone’s life. It might be fleeting, or it might be the thing that sticks with that person for years. Either way, how we interact with someone will leave a mark. And all these memes seem to basically saying the same thing; ‘what mark do you want to leave’.
I finally gave up a few years ago on the notion that I would be famous or make some big impact on the world. I don’t expect to create the world saving AI like Jarvis in Ironman. It would be cool though. I don’t expect to create massive impressive pieces of art that the world is knocking at my door to buy or display. I’ll watch as my friend enjoys that particular feast. She deserves it. I don’t expect to be a world famous guitar player or singer. I don’t even fantasize about it. I like to play and sing and I think I’m good with what I have. At least for now. Oh, and I don’t have children to ‘carry on my legacy'(please insert your own eye roll here, just don’t strain too much there’s more to read). Even so, I do impact the world. I do leave my mark.
I do this by my interactions with people. I have the opportunity at the jams to interact with my fellow musicians, as well as the people who come to see us. And it takes very little to be kind to someone who has been nice enough to come up to you and tell you how much they enjoyed what you played and how they really like getting to see everyone. Yes, it feels good to hear the praise. It feels really good to know someone had a good time because of what you’re doing.
I have the opportunity at Taekwondo. I interact with people my level, higher than my level, lower than my level, older than me and younger than me. And I try to treat everyone of them with respect. And to be helpful. I also have a standing rule that if a young person (high school or younger) is waiting for a ride after class, if no one is around, I will wait with them. It might be a short wait, or a long wait, it doesn’t matter. I’ll chat with them. It’s fun. I’ve learned stuff and I’ve heard some great stories. In the end, they may not remember me, but they might remember that someone was there.
I recently met someone, who I hoped I would get to spend more time with, alas that doesn’t seem to be the case. The Universe conspired with Lady Luck and Father Time to make the acquaintance a fairly short one. I knew this was going to be the case after a couple of weeks. And yet, I had already gained so much from the encounter. I learned things in general and things about myself. I even remember thinking that no matter what happened, it had been a good experience and I would not have missed it for the world.
You never know when you will be that encounter for someone. That one exchange, that one brief friendship that will impact their world. It might move it ahead, it might give them exactly the comfort or solace they need at that moment. It might help them through a tough time or give them just enough relief from the stress of something. It might even just be a great thing to have in their world that though wasn’t particularly dark or trying it was kind of bland and it brightened things up just enough.
Now, I’ll be honest, I forget this sometimes. I have moments when I have reached overload, I haven’t recognized it, let alone acknowledged it, and I have gone off on some one for, in retrospect no reason that was good enough to justify it. And yes, I really have, and I can actually think of two people specifically. But I do try to make amends when my good sense returns to me. It’s rather a shock when it does. And I am usually terribly upset with my behavior during that time. Fortunately it happens infrequently. The rest of the time, I really do try to make my encounters with people as pleasant as can be. Because, like the meme says, you don’t know what someone is going through. And most of the time, they really are doing the best they can.
So, in the immortal words of Bill and Ted from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, “Be excellent to each other.”
That’s all for this week. My Dad had a birthday this weekend so I spent some time with him. Followed by an episode with a dead carbon monoxide detector in the middle of the night. There was a jam that I was actually feeling up to going to, however; I am still studying for this test and really want to get it over with so I skipped it this time. Since I’ll be missing the one in September, I’m really going to try to make it next month. The pictures are of the sewing machine cabinet all in one piece. I finally managed to get that done. Ready for my sister to pick up and take home.