Simple Acts...

Simple acts can bring about such a great change...

I was on the train today, coming back from Heidelberg and there were a few school kids sitting opposite me on their way home, (probably about year 8 or 9 at high school). They were listening to some music on a mp3 player, as was i... so i offered them my ipod to listen to some songs i was enjoying... you could see their eyes describe the surprise of a complete stranger sharing music with them on a train. Nevertheless the accepted the offer and listened away for a few stops, still giving the occasional glance of surprise in my direction.

After listening for a while, they returned the ipod and we began chatting... about music, school, etc.
I think the thing i noticed most of all in these kids, was an intense desire for community, understanding and basic friendliness... So much as we get older, we become cynical and sterile and cautious, we forget, loose or ignore our ability to extend and share warmth and love, we become afraid, of all sorts of things like rejection, broken relationships and negative image, and we hide away inside ourselves, in our own skin in order to shelter or protect ourselves from any possibility of being hurt, humbled or humiliated. But in the process, loose the chance to become more human, more whole, and to gain one more step towards creating a world of understanding, love and compassion...

As the young brother and sister got off the train, with a smile they kept insisting how nice it was to share my music with them and asked if i would be catching that train again soon... I wish that more and more i would loose my inhibitions and fears, and be bold enough to step into a form of social consciousness that is gentle, approachable and culturally relevant to the individual, that is accepting of all with no exceptions... it would be worth it to see more smiling faces!