Live the Dream, Give the Dream

Many are remembering Martin Luther King Jr. today, including almost every prominent news site. The Huffington Post, which both unnerves and amuses me for its larger than life photos and captions, making me want to ask "Why are you yelling at me Huffington Post??" caught my attention today. It features a pronounced black and white photograph of Dr. King walking surrounded by a slew of supporters. What struck me was how small the good reverend appears in the picture. We are used to seeing him catapulted into history through films of his historic speeches, cameras angled to give his physical height and stature the same lift and importance as his profound words. But looking at that photograph today, I realized that he was one man as ordinary as any of us. What made him extraordinary was his capacity to take that immense energy, vision, passion, and humanity inside and direct it outward, channel it into a stream of like-minded energies and like-willed or like-souled people also committed to letting their "little" lights shine. Below the photograph is an MLK quote: "Life's most persistent and urgent question is 'What are you doing in the service of others?'"

I thought this was an outstanding sentiment in relation to this community working through this particular site. This morning, when I awoke, without so much as thinking of the date, I had already informed my giving intention: let me give in the service of others today. Depak Choprah writes about a practice that I have also tried to adopt, which is to greet the morning with your intentions for the day, that is, with what you want to add to the cosmic stew. I have found that after you sift through your mental junk mail (this appointment, that work thing that's work priority, this to pick up at the store, call so and so who you've been putting off talking to..etc..) there's a patch of clarity that meanders into your consciousness, the way the sun emerges through a bank of clouds on a summer day, and that's kind of a cosmic on-ramp, let your energy merge into the day. So my intention for the day dovetailed with my giving intention, and much to my delight I peered out my window to see the snow splattering down in heavy, wet, Rorschach blotches. It was the kind of snow cheered by any 7-year-old itching to start up an old fashioned snowball war with her friends and cursed by adults mentally feeling the heft of the shovel and the twinge in the back. But for me, it was the answer to my intention.

Midday, when the snow had let up, I journeyed out, armed with my shovel. After clearing out my car and the parking space in front of me, I turned my attention to the maze of small blocks that form the tracks of my street. A gentleman had already cleared out the small patch of his driveway and was working on a bit of his sidewalk. I simply joined him without saying much more than afternoon and yep, it's winter alright. And when I finished in front of his house, I moved on to the next one, eventually crossing over to attend to swatches of sidewalk on my side of the street that remained untouched.

The physical work felt as great as knowing that I was giving in the service of others, not just the people who live in these houses who got a break today from dealing with the downside of mother nature in New England, but of all the people who use these sidewalks. People who live elsewhere in the neighborhood walking their dogs, taking their kids to the bus stop, or passing through en route to get a gallon of milk and a lottery ticket at the corner convenience store.

And I also liked that I toiled anonymously. It's kind of like the Batman effect. Batman works in the cover of darkness to, ok, evade the bad guys, sure, and because sometimes the imprint of hope, positivity, pure kindness is more powerful than the gesture that draws news trucks and keys to the city. Sometimes just knowing that the deed went done is the spark that fuels your own "little" light.

After all, isn't that why we celebrate the dream as much as we celebrate the man himself?

Thanks for reading. Namaste all and many thanks for making me feel so welcome and already a part of this extraordinary community! You're all doing great, great work! Keep up the good deeds!!