No matter how you came to this blog post today, by chance,
by intention,
or simply by Good Luck,
may I be the first to wish you Happy Random Acts of Kindness Day!
Yes, you read that right: February 17 is Happy Random Acts of Kindness Day.
Not to worry if you didn’t know this fact.
I know I didn’t, until I turned to today’s date in my copy of Eileen and Jerry Spinelli’s newest book,
today I will (Knopf, 2009).
I’d been savoring the moment (translate: assigned blog posting date and subject matter) to kindly share this newly-published small but useful and inspiring book with TeachingAuthors readers and writers.
Today’s post became that random moment.
How perfect is that!
I ardently believe in Paying Kindness Forward.
I practice it daily.
I believe in Good Karma.
So consider this introduction to the Spinellis’ book my February 17 Act of Kindness.
FYI: February 15 through 20 has been designated Random Acts of Kindness Week!
Googling left me thinking the
Acts of Kindness Foundation was behind the designation.
No matter the Who, though, or even the How: I’m smiling and paying kindness forward to
you.I’d purchased the Spinellis’ book fully intending to use it as a journal-writing tool with my Young Writers.
The review blurb highlighted the book’s simplicity. In a single page entry for each day of the year, the Spinellis
(1) share a quote from a children’s book, referencing the title and author;
(2) reflect meaningfully on the quote;
(3) make a “today I will….” promise that relates to that reflection.
The February 17th quote?
4 Comments on Happy Random Acts of Kindness Day!, last added: 2/17/2010
Ever since I was a girl, I've dreamed of living in a house with its own library. You know-- the kind of room wealthy people in movies always have, with floor-to-ceiling-built-in bookshelves and a rolling ladder to reach the top shelves.
The fantasy was inspired not only by my love of reading, but also by the fact that we had very few books in our house when I was growing up. (One of the few I can recall was a light blue softcover my father studied to prepare for his "citizenship" test.) For my working-class Italian-immigrant parents, books were a luxury we couldn't afford.
Then one day when I was around ten years old, a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman rang our front bell. You can imagine my amazement when the salesman managed to convince my father to buy a brand-new 20-volume set of the
World Book Encyclopedia. I don't know how the salesman did it, but he was my new hero! And since my younger sister and brother were too young to read at the time, I considered the set
mine.
As nerdy as it may sound, I loved reading those books. We didn't have the Internet back then, and a trip to the public library meant taking two buses each way. So having my own encyclopedia was indeed a luxury. I used it not only to research class assignments, but for recreational reading, too. I never read a volume from front to back as you would a novel. Instead, I flipped the pages until something struck me as interesting.
I tell students at school visits that my favorite volume was the letter "
B," and it's true. As a girl, I pored over the color photographs of
Birds and
Butterflies from around the world. I studied the rules of
Baseball and memorized the stats of many of the record-holders. (I believe Joe DiMaggio
still holds the record for the longest consecutive hitting streak at 56 games.) I learned the hand signals for right and left turns on a
Bicycle.
Those books held more than information for me. They took me places I could only dream of visiting. They introduced me to presidents, poets, and painters. They sparked my curiosity in mathematics and music.
As I grew older, I became more interested in reading fiction and drifted away from the encyclopedia. But every so often, I still went back to my old
World Books. And every time, I inevitably learned something new and interesting from their pages.
I'm happy to say I still own that set of encyclopedia--you can see it pictured here:
Now, whenever I pull out the "
B" volume, I'm reminded of how it felt to be ten years old and own not only one book, but a whole set of 20. I was the richest girl in the world!
* * * * *
This is the last in our series of posts for the
National Day on Writing, sponsored by NCTE. I will be submitting this entry to the "
A Lifetime of Reading" Gallery of the
National Gallery of Writing. I hope you'll use the following
Writing Workout to inspire your own contribution to the gallery.
Writing Workout
The first book I ever owned . . .
What's the first book you recall as your very own? Was it a picture book, a reader, a novel? Was it brand new, or a hand-me-down? Who gave it to you? What memories are evoked when you think about that book?
Post the title of the book as a comment here on our
TeachingAuthors blog, then write a 250-500 word description, essay, or anecdote about the book. When you're done, I encourage you to submit your piece to the gallery called "
A Lifetime of Reading," curated by Franki Sibberson and Mary Lee Hahn, who blog at
A Year of Reading. You can read more about the gallery
at their blog.
Happy writing!
Carmela
Is that what I look like?
Huh.
A Year of Reading has a great video of interesting, articulate bloggers talking about A Lifetime Of Reading. Oh, and I'm there, also. At least I didn't mispronounce anything!
Amazon Affiliate. If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.
© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
I know I didn’t, until I turned to today’s date in my copy of Eileen and Jerry Spinelli’s newest book, today I will (Knopf, 2009).
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Esther--I hadn't heard of the Spinelli's book, so I plan
to check into it immediately.
I know from experience that random acts of kindness (either given or received) turn your day on it's ear, and lead you to unexpected places in your mind. I have to take my daughter to DMV this afternoon for her learner's permit. What a perfect place to practice random kindness!
What a fantastic post! I told my daughter before she went to school about this special day and encouraged her to practice random acts of kindness at school. I hope she remembers. :)
As for favorite quotes - my favorite comes from my dad. I grew up on a farm, where there was little racial diversity and a lot of prejudice. He always told me, "It's not the color of someone's skin that matters. It's the color of their heart."
I've lived these wise words every day of my life. Even though he's not an author, he's a farmer and tax accountant, I hold that as one of my favorite quotes of all time. :)
Good luck at the DMV today, Mary Ann.
Great quote, Michelle.
Esther, I didn't know about Random Acts of Kindness Day until I read your post. I was actually the recipient of a random act of kindness yesterday, by way of my husband. He stopped at Trader Joe's to pick up a few things and they were giving away bouquets of red roses, as in FREE! I smile each time I look at the dozen roses sitting on my kitchen table.
My way of "paying it forward" today: I've shared your post on Facebook. :-)
Oh, I'm so glad this post is connecting with readers!
Thanks for sharing.
My standard response, when someone thanks me for shared time, advice, guidance, direction, or even a Kind Word: simply do as I'm doing and pay it forward!
Michelle's father's insightful words bring to mind a Richard Peck/Grandma Dowdel quote the Spinellis included: "She had eyes in the back of her heart!"