Thursday, February 7, 2013

Angels in street clothes....



I haven't given much attention to this blog. None really.  Maybe, not inspired to write?....

THIS inspired me:
I saw this guy (Massoud Adibpour on The Jeff Probst Show), the other day who talked about seeing "Honk if you love somebody" written in the dust on the back window of a car. This inspired him. A random sentiment sent out to the universe about love. So he decided to make a sign that said, "Honk if you love somebody" on it and stand on a street corner in DC on a Monday morning holding up that sign. He said at first he was kind of scared to do it because he was not sure how people would perceive it. But, he decided to do it anyway because he wanted to push himself out of his comfort zone.


Six o'clock on a Monday morning in D.C. he went to a street corner with his sign.  The response was... amazing. He said he could literally see people's attitude changing through the windows as they drove by, contemplating the fact that they loved someone.  He was so inspired that he invited friends and they made more signs in addition to that first one. They said things like, "Don't be so hard on yourself." And "Smile." And "Today is amazing."


Other people were so moved and inspired that complete strangers started making their own signs and going to other streets in the city. And more people were inspired and they made their own signs and they started popping up in other cities. And now this amazing thing is going global. This man just wanted to input some random positivity on a Monday morning and he has inspired a worldwide movement with the core value being a small act can inspire others.


On this same show, a girl (Hannah Brencher) talked about how her life's dream was to move to New York City and live there. She did it when she was 22 and was successful enough that she was surviving o.k. But, she found that she was still sad and depressed and she didn't know why. One day while on the train she looked around her and started writing love letters to people who looked like they might need one. She began leaving them anonymously in locations all over the city.  Tucked in a book at the library.  Behind the salt and pepper shakers at a diner. Placed on an empty seat on the train. Dropped on the ground in front of a park bench.  She dropped them and left.  Never waiting to see who found them.  Funny thing is, often the letters themselves would find the right people. These anonymous acts resulted in her feeling better.   

She began blogging about random love letters and then made a promise that anyone who asked (no matter how many ) for a love letter that she would hand write and send them a love letter. She didn't really think that anyone would respond. But, she was wrong. At first there were just a few responses and she wrote to each one--a heartfelt declaration of love and her belief in that person's value on earth. Within nine months she had written 400 letter BY HAND to complete strangers.  The result?  She says, "It absolutely healed me."


She told her friends and some of her friends joined her. And again like the guy above she started a worldwide movement. One of the things that she said on the show that profoundly affected me, "Sometimes you just want to write a love letter to all the people on earth."  

We are all dealing with painful things in our lives.  The idea that you can heal your own pain by offering love directly to the universe resonates so powerfully to me.  I'm not religious.  I don't really pray.  I try to "send positive thoughts to the universe".  Things like, "please give peace someone who is struggling" or "send joy" or "blessings to all who need it."  These thoughts absolutely heal me too.  Hannah and Massoud inspire me, encourage me, and have given me the blessing of witnessing angels in human form.


Little things can be big things and EVERYONE is important and has value.