When I opened my back door this morning, the first thing I saw sitting on the step was an old pot filled with some just-picked apples, an unexpected gift from my neighbor. Such a small, simple offering but immediately I felt a chrysanthemum of joy blossom in my chest like a tiny firework. A much needed tiny firework chrysanthemum of joy, for the previous day had been a difficult one. This is the power of gifts, especially spontaneous ones that aren't given out of obligation or ceremony but from a place of kinship. A gift that, in my case at least, spoke of welcome and belonging, and painted the moment a bright, encouraging hue. A true blessing.
This meditation isn't going to be about what I will cook with the apples, or where I live and who my neighbor is, or how grateful I am to live next door to someone who has the capacity to make such a gesture, although any one of those would be well worth writing about. Instead I present this story as a challenge to you to take up the heart and mind of my neighbor and leave an unexpected gift for someone today.
This someone could be a stranger, or your neighbor, or a friend. It could be your child, or your spouse, or your mother. It could be someone who looks like they need something or it could be someone who looks like they don't. It doesn't even have to be another human being. A pet or a tree or an organization might be what calls to you.
Don't over think it or overdo it. Just cultivate the mind, the attention, the intention to be spontaneous and generous and see what happens. I hope in doing so you will discover virtue of the small, unexpected gift, that you will experience how the very act of setting off a tiny firework of joy in someone else will also set off a tiny firework in you. A pot full of apples won't solve the world's problems but its power should not be underestimated. The action may be simple, but the effect is enormous.
Related: Weekend Meditation: Three Duck Eggs
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Its all about those random acts of kindness (and hugs!) if you ask me....thanks for the lovely sentiments that you have shared here. Hope your today is a better one.
Some days it may be only eye contact and a smile or a wave, but the connection will matter. I also hope your today is a better one.
Today, this was much needed. Thank you
Thanks for reminding me of this. When I consider gifts for friends I always think, "It's too small" or "it's not expensive enough". When actually my favorite gifts from friends are small things like this, especially if it's creative or hand-made.
I used to work in the drive through at Tim Horton's as a teenager. Every now and then someone would pay for their coffee and for the next stranger in line behind them. It was usually a miserable job but it was heartwarming to see people doing that :)
Thank you for the nice meditation. It is true those are the nicest gifts.
This has inspired me to give some of my recently canned tomatoes to a good frined who is coming over.
" A pot full of apples won't solve the world's problems..."
Oh but it will. It will. One pot at a time. Do not underestimate the enormity of potential here. Lovely post.
*contented sigh*
Such a lovely post. We just moved into a new building that's MUCH smaller than our old one. We're thrilled to be here and I'm dying to get my kitchen fully set so that I can make some small offering to the neighbors. I'm thinking just some muffins and/or fruit by the door in the morning with a "from the newbies" sign.
For my mother's birthday, I had no clue what to buy her, so when the day came and she threw a little dinner party, instead of a bought gift, I brought her my first, freshly harvested batch of radishes for starters to her dinner. It made her so happy she squeeked!
This is a happy post for a Monday morning, and the pot and the apples are lovely!
Thank you for the smile.
I have a friend who has been going through some tough stuff, and tends to wall himself out like a turtle retracting in its shell. I've taken to spontaneously placing mix CDs under his door in hopes that it might cheer him up.
This reminds of something my sister once did for me. I was out on my own for the first time and did not have a lot of money. My father died the Christmas Eve three years prior, and I was so incredibly full of sadness and grief. My sister left a live Christmas tree outside my apartment door-with a tree stand and ornaments in the bag next to it. I will never be able to thank her enough. Random acts of kindness can change people's lives. I know, because it changed mine.