Your Super Power
Thank you to everyone who has joined the meditation calls this week. You have built a community and fostered a sense of connection when we most need it. And you’ve been so patient as we wrestled with overburdened phone lines, and some scheduling blips. You’ve touched everyone on the calls and you’ve helped us feel supported.
This is just one example of the kindness that is in full bloom around us these days, and there is a growing sense that we may exit this challenge wiser, kinder, healthier and more connected than we entered it.
Along those lines, we have the chance to reframe self-quarantine. Staying in when we don’t need to go out, and keeping 6 feet apart when we have to be out can bring a sense of fear or frustration. We can honor these emotions, and also view them as millions upon millions of acts of kindness - kindness to ourselves and to others.
Acts of kindness large and small are even more powerful than is obvious. Studies have shown that each time we engage in an act of kindness it feels good, which is our brain’s way of making us want to be kind again. (The survival of our species over millennia depended on kindness. Darwin noted in The Descent of Man, that our kindest ancestors had a greater chance of raising healthy offspring to maturity and reproductive age.) So, our brains reward us when we act with kindness by making us feel good, and motivating us to want to be kind again. Not only that, but the receiver of a kind act feels good and is, in turn, motivated to be kind. Not only THAT, but anyone who witnesses kindness feels good and is motivated to be kind. It’s a joy to explain this to kids and help them to see that one act of kindness can literally reach the far corners of the earth – that it’s like a super power. It’s also important for adults to remember that we have superpowers!
We invite you this week to use your superpower of kindness to honor the requests for self-quarantine, and to support anyone you can through this time. When fear and frustration arise, take a moment to acknowledge the vital role you are playing in keeping everyone safe, and perhaps pick up the phone and call a neighbor who lives on their own or a long-lost friend, tapping into our evolutionary hard-wiring for kindness.
May all beings everywhere, without exception, be well, have their needs met, and feel loved, cared for connected, and safe,
Your family at CMP
Guided Meditations
You'll find guided meditations and discussions on the Guided Meditations page under the Resources tab of this website.
We Need Your Support- Especially Now
CMP thrives on donations. All of our weekly sessions are free and open to the public, but donations are essential to our sustainability. CMP is a licensed charity in the state of CT as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Checks can be given to facilitators at our weekly sits or mailed to Community Mindfulness Project, P.O. Box 1713, New Canaan, CT 06840. Credit cards are accepted in the Giving section of the website. For donations of wired funds or appreciated securities, please email welcome@communitymind.org. Thank you!
This isn’t some random picture from the internet. This was taken on a walk yesterday. Beauty is in bloom now if we look for it. What beauty are you noticing as you move through your day?