I got tagged the day I start my Kindness challenge!
Few days ago I had signed up for the 21-day kindness challenge, beginning from today (11th September). Only last week I have packed my entire home, put the boxes in storage and kept a backpack with me to go along my volunteer travels for the next couple of months as the date for moving to Angola comes nearer.
While I stuck to bare essentials for my backpack, a few things that I could not leave behind were my basic craft supplies.
Sometimes back I had started this practice of making cards with inspiring message and leave them for strangers. Something that started as an act of reaching out to strangers soon started a transformation in me. At first I would need to refer to the quotes in my diary but soon they became a part of my own thought process. I have read about affirmations and their power if we keep repeating them, but I could never mechanically do so – i.e. keep repeating affirmations to myself. However writing them for strangers had that exact effect, without my even knowing so :).
Simple thoughts like “A smile is the curve that sets everything straight!” or that “you were born to fly” or “love gives beauty to everything it touches” have become ingrained in my thoughts and I have noticed shifts in me. I smile easily, I believe in my potential, I trust more, I recognize and treasure love…
But something beautiful happened today as I opened my inbox. Last month Madhusmita from Assam read the letters to strangers post and wrote to me as to how she can be part of the movement.
I told her how I do it and I also told her about the message cards that I leave and sent her a picture. She immediately responded saying she would love to “buy” them from me and gift them to her friends! My response was simply that these were gifts of love and they don’t have a price tag! The following week I made some message cards and since I gathered from her blog that she loves to read, I also made some bookmarks for her. Just a few days ago I wrote her a letter and couriered the message cards and bookmarks to Guwahati.
And it was sheer luck that she received them yesterday and hers’ was the first mail that I read today! An apt start to my kindness challenge of me being tagged by the kind words from a (no longer) stranger… What made it even more special was when she told that the cards were a mood booster! Here’s a part of her email:
- Hey Ashima!
- I can’t tell you how happy I am today. I was sick yesterday and was on leave. And when i reached office today I am greeted by your cards. They were instant mood boosters. I am not feeling like parting with them and want to keep them all. 🙂A special thanks for the bookmarks. I loooooove them.
I will let you know my experience of sharing them with other people soon.
A big hug and lots of thank you once again. 🙂
Love,
Madhu
I you want some of these message cards or bookmarks, just send me a message. If I can post them to you, I surely will or else I will send high resolution scanned images that you can print and use. Each card is unique and handmade with a lot of love – just for you.