The nicest thing . . .

Hello friends — Hope April has treated you well and that May is even kinder.

We’re experiencing a cold snap here, which made me think I should write a poem about a spring chill.  What are you thinking about these days?

I know I am behind the times sometimes but I came across something from 2013 that is as pertinent today — it’s “George Saunders’s Advice to Graduates” by Joel Lovell in The New York Times from July 31, 2013.  (And I’m not just saying  you should read it because he mentions a girl named Ellen.). One thing George Saunders says that resonates:

“What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness.”

This made me think about how much I value kindness, a virtue that is easily overlooked and sometimes discounted. It inspired me that George Saunders believes in kindness and espouses the practice of it, as he says: “It’s a little facile, maybe, and certainly hard to implement, but I’d say, as a goal in life, you could do worse than: Try to be kinder.”

Now I am off to spoil myself with crossword puzzles and cooking shows.

Peace, love, and solace