On Kindness

What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness? 
Jean Jacques Rousseau

I had a meeting yesterday where talk eventually turned to the story of the woman on a plane recently, who was seated between two (in her judgement) large people. And she was not happy. She ranted, raved, called them names, and was just downright nasty. To the point where she was eventually removed from the plane and put on another flight.

The two people with whom I was meeting are larger people than me, and this really touched a nerve with them. I had no idea the judgment that people face because of their size. I sometimes do, because I’m smaller than many people. But they apparently have been criticized, shamed, and ridiculed because of their size.

And that’s not right.

What brings people to the point where they feel compelled to be mean to others?
It takes just as much energy – heck, probably less energy – to be kind. I have no idea what you are going through. I have no idea what your life is like. Why on earth should it matter to me what size you are, or what you’re eating, or what you’re doing? As long as it doesn’t affect me or my loved ones (for example, I draw the line at driving while impaired…) it’s your life. Live it!

So why can’t we live and let live? If I want to live my life without judgment, then it seems reasonable to think that I should not judge others. We’re all humans. We’re all presumably trying hard. why not assume the best, rather than the worst?

I felt terrible for these 2 colleagues. To face that vitriol – apparently, multiple times for each of them? – must be so demeaning. I can only hope that the lessons from Mr. Rogers are learned by all…

There are three ways to ultimate success. 
The first way is to be kind.
The second way is to be kind. 
The third way is to be kind.
– Mr. Rogers

New boots…and being myself?

Related image
Sometimes, it’s something simple that reminds me I need to just. be. me. 
This week, it was boots. Yes, boots. 
I’ve been searching for “casual” gray boots for what feels like a year. Maybe it has been. Anyway – I finally ordered a pair, thought they were it! And, no. Uncomfortable. They didn’t look right on me. And the color was off. Sigh. The joys of online shopping… 
And then I realized that…I’m not a casual boots person. 
I’m a jeans and hiking boots kind of person. 
I am not fancy. I don’t wear a lot of makeup (ha… I actually wear hardly any…). My morning “routine” from getting in the shower to leaving for the bus literally takes a half hour. (Granted, I lay out my clothes the night before, but still.) I forget to comb my hair when I get to work nearly every single day. And much to my mother’s chagrin, I never, ever wear lipstick. Ever. Maybe – MAYBE – tinted lip balm. 
Where am I going with this? well, I finally realized that as much as they may be cute on others… casual gray boots are NOT me. Hiking boots, that’s where my comfort zone is. 
So I got a new pair of hiking boots. I wore them today for the first time – thank you, Wisconsin, for having freezing rain last night! And oh, they made me so happy. They looked right on my feet. With my jeans (have I mentioned how much I LOVE working in academia??). 
And I realized that … hiking boots helped me remember to just. be. me. 
I may not be normal. I may not be like everyone else. But you know what? I’ve done just fine being me to this point. What I bring to the world as me will be a lot more valuable than if I try to put on a facade. 
Sometimes it’s something simple. Today it was a pair of boots. 

Failing Forward and Forgiveness

I was doing a Calm Challenge meditation on self-forgiveness this morning, and identified one of my past professional and personal failures as what I really need to forgive myself for. One of the elements was identifying what led to what you needed to forgive yourself for. That’s a hideously constructed sentence, but what it boiled down to for me was, what led to the decision to leave a job that (in hindsight) was a reasonably good fit for me, take a job halfway across the country, move my family, and cry the whole way there because I thought I might be making a mistake? It turns out that it was… fear of failure.

The reason I left that job was because I kept getting recommendations from senior faculty to delay my tenure case. My whole professional life, since I started my PhD, tenure had been the goal. I wanted to do research and work in academia- the setting where I have always felt most comfortable, most at home. And here were the experts telling me that I wasn’t there yet. That I was not meeting the benchmarks that kept evolving over time. And I was terrified at the idea of failing at my main professional goal.

That fear of failure led to me, essentially, choosing to run away. To a city, a job, and a life that was not for me. Not for us. In the process, I nearly lost my marriage, my professional identity, and any self-confidence that I had built up (slooowllly) over a long period of time.

And yet. Looking back now. I made the (bad) choice. We moved. I tried the new job. I hated it. I hated the city. I disliked being so close to my family again. I wanted to be back in the plains, fields, and rolling bluffs of the Midwest. I was so desperate to get out, once I got in, that it was almost comical. Talk about a wake up call.

And now, now I know. I know that I had to fail in that other position to get where I am today. I had to leave what I thought was an ideal situation to find one that’s an even better fit. I had to leave a place I loved – a place I thought I’d be forever – to realize that maybe I should try to spend forever somewhere else.

If I hadn’t made that choice? If I hadn’t failed? I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t be as focused, as productive, and as happy as I am today.

I now, finally, can see that horrible choice – that misstep – as an opportunity to hit the reset button. To, as the quote says, begin again, this time, more intelligently. I know myself better now. I think my marriage is starting to recover. And I am happy. I also know that “forever” might not be the best option – and that’s okay! I might leave here someday, for another opportunity. But I also know that when and if I do, it will not be because I feared failure. It will be because I see another, better opportunity elsewhere. A better fit. And that’s amazing.

Hard lessons? Absolutely. But necessary ones.

I worried

I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers 
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn 
as it was taught, and if not how shall 
I correct it? 

Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven, 
can I do better? 

Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows 
can do it and I am, well, 
hopeless. 

Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it, 

am I going to get rheumatism, 

lockjaw, dementia? 

Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing. 

And gave it up. And took my old body 

and went out into the morning, 

and sang.
Mary Oliver

Yet another Mary Oliver poem, and yet one that speaks to me today. I worry. I worry all the time. And yet, today’s meditation (thank you, Calm, for your 2019 challenge, which is bringing me some new favorites!) and this poem and another one I found… all highlight the importance of recognizing, owning, and then ditching my worries. 
I am working on this. I am trying, but it is hard. It is always hard for we who worry incessantly. And it’s not easy for the non-worriers in our lives to understand this. 
I am worried about family things, relationship issues, the weather, my work, and on and on and on. I could just worry all the time, but I am starting to learn (finally) how counterproductive and destructive that is. 
So I strive to achieve what Ms. Oliver seems to have, in her later years… 
…Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing. And gave it up.

More inspiration for a Monday, as always. Thank you, Mary, for your light and life. 
💙

Per Aspera Ad Astra

I was all set to write about how Per Aspera Ad Astra is my phrase of the year – to with “seek”, my word of the year. While I don’t think I have necessarily navigated hardship, as the phrase indicates, this speaks to me because of the shift from the negative, the hardships (to whatever degree we all face them) and the shift to reaching for the stars. Moving towards the positive – finding the good and celebrating it.

It’s astonishing how, when you land on an idea or word or thought that becomes your guide / intention, how you start to see it everywhere.

And, in honor of Mary Oliver, who died yesterday (1/17/2019), I realized that one of her poems speaks directly to this intention of mine for 2019. What better way to honor her and celebrate her, than to read and savor these words? She brought so much light into the world – I can only hope that I am able to reflect just a tiny bit of it in my own life.

The Journey – Mary Oliver
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice –
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do –
determined to save
the only life you could save.

The first line resonates so strongly for me – One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began…

Yes. Just, yes. 

Thank you, Mary. Thank you for connecting me to the deeper parts of myself. More than anything, thank you for using your creativity, your light, your words, to make this world a better place. Rest peacefully, reunited, I hope, with your love. You will be missed.