BE Kind...

One thing some may not know about me is

every January, I find a word, one word that I want to focus on

for the year. Although I started my 2021 in the hospital 

with Covid, I still picked my word...

BE

Yep, that is it, Be.

For me the word BE can be a complete sentence.

It's meaning, to slow down and take it all in,

Just Be.

Just like my reasoning for picking the word,

I try to find things that allow me to just 

be in the moment, enjoy the quiet, the time

as it is, right then, right now.

Covid stopped visits for me and hugs, and kisses

yet it has not changed me.

A few weeks ago I was able to resume coffees at the cottage

with dear friends and I was reminded of just

how much we have missed in this year.

I was present in the moment, listening to my good friends,

catching up on happenings of the year.

I allowed myself to enjoy the moment, to 

get off the chair in my studio, to wash the paintbrushes for

a few hours and just 

Be.

I would like to say we all benefitted from this

but I know, just one year taken from me, as I get older is a big deal.

Today, Jolee and I will visit my big sister in Larose nursing home.

She is 23 years older than me and not as healthy as we wish.

To have had a year where the only way us siblings could

visit is at a window where we could hardly hear let alone hug.

Today we will hug her and we will kiss her and I may 

just shed a few tears that we all made it out of this year still intact.

We will shower her with love and kindness that she has

not been able to have from us for a year.

I strive to BE kind, even on my worst days.

Not only to those I love but to complete strangers.

I don't always succeed. Sometimes I don't have the conversation

with the cashier at my favorite grocery store,

I don't greet a good morning to the ferry workers that

tirelessly tow us from one bank to the other.

Yet, when I remember these things, when I do them even when

I am not having the best day, I BEnefit...

There is that word again, BE.

Yes, it does matter, that word nice.

Many times in my children's lives I would point to this sign

when they would fight or have an attitude with me.

Did I still scream at them? Of Course

Did they talk back to me? At times

but the main vibe in the home was....

BECAUSE NICE MATTERS (BE again?)

and I finish up with saying, 

Be kind to all not just those you love dearly.

Even the most hard and cold person will

bend a little with a smile and kind gesture.

BECAUSE NICE MATTERS