New Monday Blog!

As some of you know who read this blog fairly regularly (THANK YOU!) I have been spending some time in NYC. Today is my last day for a while as we throw open the doors of Giving Tree Gallery this weekend and I cannot WAIT to welcome everyone to our little bit of heaven this summer!
If you are thinking of a Cape Cod visit, please tell us. The amazing, incredible Courtney created an INTERACTIVE CALENDAR!


As for the 'theme' of this New Monday blog.. I actually started writing this on Saturday. See, I'm a SUPER early riser, so I usually spend the hours between about 430 and 1130 doing all things "Giving Tree" And then have some time to.. wander in this city.
Inevitably, I spend most of my time observing and enjoying... People. Specifically, people being kind to each other.

"In the end, I just want to be kind"- Mary Oliver

For me, these "visions" of kindness, no matter how small (someone stepping aside to let someone pass.. Opening a door etc) are as necessary to my well being as...breathing.

One "kindness sighting" and I can feel buoyed for hours..

I bring this up because I have been doing lots of "soul searching" I guess is the term, for lack of a better word... Trying to define, refine.. What I want and need to "contribute" to the world I live in and receive so much joy from.

(*A hint to what is rising to the top, our recent OUR FRIENDS page)

And I hope, next week, to reveal even more!

What I know for sure is that these themes of kindness and connection have been informing and inspiring EVERYTHING I do, as well as keeping me going when I start to doubt myself.

Just the other day I received a wonderful message from a beloved customer, Lori. :)-The timing could not have been better. Lori wrote to tell me she was wearing her Tami Morrissey Safety Pin Bracelet that day to remind her how her friends are like the pins of the bracelet, and how they all help hold her together.

Needless to say, this made my day!



That night, just as I was falling into sleep.. I was recalling the other acts of kindness I had seen. I realized I had witnessed quite a bit of 'hugging' that day, and it got me thinking. And these were the thoughts, just before I fell into a deep, and wonderful, sleep:


The Mechanics Of A Great Hug
observations from the streets of NYC

A great hug connotes affection.
This is obvious.
How could it not?
Two people,
folding into one another's arms,
pressing into each other
for a moment,
taking on the weight of the other
if one moves, or misses
both fall.

With a great hug there is
of course,
"giving"
but there is also
"receiving"
And both things matter
in equal amounts.
Inherent in this
perfect equation
there is both power,
and powerlessness.
All at once.
A willingness to 'let in'
A willingness to 'let go'
both absolutely essential

A great hug is not like dancing
There is no "lead"
In a great hug.

No one owns a hug.


And finally, I have decided
A great hug
has something else in it
perhaps more subtle
than all these other things-

A great hug
can sometimes, very definitely be
a "putting back together"of sorts

Meaning,

sometimes,

we all

spill out the sides of ourselves

Come a bit

unraveled

undone.

A great hug

with arms wrapped round,

Can sometimes be

two friends

doing what they can

to put the other

back together

again.

I smile thinking of this last part
When I see people hugging now.

That is why I wanted to share it with you.

Think about it, the next time you see two people hugging.

Think of it as a "gathering up"
of all the good stuff

the other person needs
to carry around with them

but, like a too full bag full of peaches at the grocery store
may have been close to letting spill out.

A great hug
lifts us up
and
holds us in
and
puts us back together
again.

Rachel-NYC May 2010