Rambling Reveries by Karen Ashworth-Eck
The Unsung Acts of Kindness
I remember when post-trauma found me – not in the immediate wreckage, but in the quiet aftermath – eighteen months after the near-fatal head-on with a drunk driver.
He was a Vietnam veteran on an International Poetry Board, and I was the green-tinged stumble-in from the other side of the world, a recent insomniac who still believed poetry had to be hard rhymed and polished, each line a fortress against the chaos.
He taught me that petals could be formed from parentheses and slashes, a delicate bloom of symbols on a page – an ASCII rose to remind me that kindness, gentleness, and beauty could be found even in the most difficult of places. Kindness could be as simple as a few keystrokes in the dark, and in that stillness, I found myself thinking of the Dalai Lama’s words – words that echoed my own slow return to hope:
“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.”
Dalai Lama XIV, The Dalai Lama: A Policy of Kindness: An Anthology of Writings by and about the Dalai Lama
Looking back, I realise that what I experienced was what experts call a random act of kindness. Dr Loretta Poerio defines them as ‘activities that we undertake for the benefit of another, a stranger even, without expectation of anything in return’. The poet’s gesture was not just a creative act, but a profound affirmation of my worth at a time when I needed it most. The power of small, even anonymous gestures to restore hope and foster healing should never be underestimated: sometimes unseen, always needed, and in my case, forever remembered.
Make kindness your signature – leave it wherever you go – and together, may our small acts continue to heal and build a thriving, compassionate community.
MUSICAL INSPIRATION: The Rose by Bette Midler
STORY: Ripple written and directed by Daniel Yam
