A few months ago, I participated in a live story telling event. I’ve done this before; it involves getting up on a stage and telling a 5-minute story in front of a group of strangers. It is indeed very scary and intimidating, but I enjoy (well, mostly) the challenge. I work hard to craft a good narrative, one with a beginning, a middle, and an end – a story that has point that the listeners can relate to. I was proud of it. Still, it is a pretty vulnerable place to put yourself - trying out a tale to an unfamiliar audience, and after I was done, I was feeling a little insecure about it all.
Afterwards, a young man came up to me and told me how he enjoyed my story. He said, “You are an artist”, which was what I needed to hear. He was acknowledging how hard I had worked to create a masterpiece. He called it art. Yes, storytelling and writing are my art.
For this week’s kindness, while I was in Florida, I focused on artists.
First, a man who comes to the beach most mornings with a wagon load of shovels and tools so that he can create a sand sculpture. His works are stunning. I stopped and told him how beautiful his sculpture was, and I told him I was so sorry to see that a big thunderstorm was rolling in (and it did!), and his sculpture would be washed away. He said he didn’t mind. He understood his sculptures were temporary; he just loved creating them. And I could tell he was pleased to hear my words of appreciation.
The next day, I went to a craft fair. There was a woman there selling her polished stone jewelry. I told her how much I liked it. Then I asked how long she had been creating jewelry. She said since she was 8 years old, then proceeded to tell me the story of how she got started and how it has continued. She was happy to tell her story. The acknowledgement as her as an artist was my act of kindness.
My kindness was to let these artists know that their creations and their creative spirit were noticed and appreciated.
Not everyone is an artist in the traditional sense. But we all create or repair or go about our daily lives in unique ways. It is kindness to let someone know that we notice.