I love books so much that when I watched the new Beauty and the Beast yesterday for the first time, I cried when Belle walked into Beast's library. (Not even kidding!) I was telling my friend who I went with, that it just brought my childhood dreams to life! Today I want to talk about littering and other acts of kindness. What do I mean by that? Well, keep reading and find out! I went grocery shopping today. I haven't been in a while, and I think that's true for everyone who lives in my neighborhood. The lines for the checkout were pretty crazy, but instead of getting frustrated, I decided to enjoy the AC (it's starting to get hot already!) and read my book while I stand in line. Yes, I brought a book to the grocery store! Don't you? Before I pulled it out of my purse, though, a magazine cover caught my attention. It was a picture of Emma Watson, probably my favorite rising actress ever! I was still floating from my Beauty and the Beast experience and decided to read the article while I waited to pay for my groceries. That's when I noticed the guy standing behind me. All he had was a 6 liter bottle of root beer and a package of strawberries. "Go ahead of me," I told him. I defiantly had more than him, and I wasn't in any particular hurry. He seemed surprised and hesitated for a moment, like he wanted to say, Wow! Are you sure? He said thank you, though, and moved ahead of me. There were still two other people ahead of us, so I don't know how much of a difference it made, but he seemed to think so. I started reading the Emma Watson article and didn't notice that the guy who was now in front of me had put one of the dividers on the belt for me so I'd know that it was okay to start unloading my groceries up there with his bottle of soda and strawberries. "Oh," I said. "I didn't notice..." "I wasn't going to interrupt your reading," he said grinning from ear to ear. I ended up putting the magazine down because I knew it would, soon, be my turn to check out, but I watched this guy in front of me. Maybe he had always been kind, but he seemed to go out of his way to talk to the cashier and bagger, which most people don't do. (I know--- I was a cashier for 3 years before my mission.) I wondered if he was "spreading" the kindness that I had given him. This is where littering comes in. In the magazine I picked up, I read about Emma Watson and one of the amazing things she's doing right now. She's putting books in subways for people to find and read. (Watch video below).
Spreading a bit of love. Is that what I did at the grocery store? Is that what we do when we write honest stories? I like to think so. I like to think that's my number one reason for going through the hell that writing sometimes is. I hope that someone somewhere will feel something in one of my poems or (someday) books. They'll learn something about the kindness that exists in this crazy world. So I will keep reading. I will keep writing. I hope you do the same.
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