A Warm Fuzzy

Love is a funny thing. The love I thought about today is the one we have for fellow humans. How do we express this, and how do we act toward them?

I often hear of acts of kindness in my hometown. And I had one after a particularly stressful visit at my doctor's office. I walked out to the parking lot and as I neared my car I noticed a small painted rock on the ground. I picked up the flower-painted rock and turned it over and saw the words LOVE. I smiled. It was a gift from whoever placed it there and I put it back in the same spot. I felt it achieved it's desired effect, filling me with a peace I didn't have just a few moments before.

In high school psychology class we had a wonderful teacher, who one day had us juniors and seniors take a blank page from our notebooks and rip several long pieces of paper. We were instructed to write a "warm fuzzy". She explained a warm fuzzy is a positive message about another. We were asked to write down one for each classmate. Once we wrote these notes, we'd fold and label with the name of the student. We handed them to the teacher, who distributed them to the students. I was a junior and extremely shy. So I'd often get notes like, "You seem nice." "You have a nice smile." And occasionally I get a funny one. It warmed my heart as it was intended.

These days I occasionally get a kind of verbal warm fuzzy in the way of an act of kindness, and sometimes when I really need it. It's often at a shop or the bank a stranger will say something nice. Sometimes it's a child. These random moments take me off the treadmill of sadness and remind me there is still love, kindness, and joy in the world.