“I need four, Sy.”

Wednesdays are “Kindness Card” days. After Smiles and Frowns, I distribute small cards (a sheet of paper cut into sixths) to the kids, and they write each other little notes of kindness. It has now become a ritual, and many kids have elevated the spirit of it by requesting more cards. I oblige. If they have more kindness, I have more paper.

Each week, I have seen kids venturing out and giving cards to people outside their immediate circles. And though it’s always nice to get a kindness card from someone close, it’s pretty cool to get one from someone outside our circle, too. It’s cool to see kids’ faces light up from the kind words of others with whom they are not close. For some it’s the first “contact” they’ve ever made with the other person. And where there’s contact, there can be connection. Kindness connects. I witness it every day, especially on Wednesday.

And, yes, “all this connection stuff” takes time. Smiles and Frowns, Kindness Cards, and Community Circle take time. They take a lot of time. And I give it. In the end, we all decide how we spend our time. For me, I have found focusing on the things that will matter in the end is reason enough to give them the time they require now. It’s hard for me to devote every second of our time to things that kids will mostly forget after the test next week. It’s hard for me to follow this singular path. In fact, it became impossible. I started to hear noises from the edge, and, distracted, I started to wander from the trail, stumbling upon something. The humans in the room. There are humans in the room. Of course, they’d been there all along, but I did not always see them. And once I saw them, I saw everything. Contact to connection. And, then, to content. But first, contact. Everything grows from there.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…submitting complete, but yet-to-be-edited drafts for Wisdom Writers.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Thursday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.