 by Louisa Foster, PsyD, RDT/BCT
I remember being in college when I first learned the principle behind The Butterfly Effect: that a small action in a complex system could yield a significant, seemingly unrelated result much later and even potentially across great distances. In my Sophomore year, there was a student who always arrived early and sat in the front row of my macroeconomics course. If ever there was a valid place to be grumpy, this was it. But this student greeted everyone as they entered with a silent, penetrating smile. I’m sure a lot of kids thought he was nuts, or maybe stoned, but I noticed that the vast majority, myself included, felt just a little bit more joyful after that gentle interaction. At the end of the semester, I watched as the shy student who sat next to me worked up the courage to approach him and tell him that he had felt desperately alone at school and had been thinking about dropping out. He was far from home and had difficulty making friends, but that twice a week, when he entered this classroom, he felt welcomed and included by that gentle smile and thought that maybe he could hang on just a little bit longer. I know that student wound up staying at school because I saw him several times in the years that followed as I completed my degree, and every time he greeted me, as he did everyone, with the same warm smile that he had so powerfully received from that anonymous student in our classroom. I think of that often as of late when I’m asked, “what can I do?” when confronted with the great suffering in our world. I think of that kid in the front row just smiling, inviting, and welcoming one and all alike. We may feel that we must meet the epic events of our times with an epic response. We may wonder how we as individuals can combat the insensitivity, injustice, and cruelty that occurs on such a grand scale. It seems unlikely for mere individuals to fashion a meaningful response on that level, and that recognition can further our sense of helplessness. But we can always smile at a stranger. We can always choose kindness. We can always soften, put down our judgement, and extend our arms in welcome. We may never know how that small bit of tenderness may change the life of another.
0 Comments
|
