Time: 2031

Opening Impressions:

1. I’m really looking forward to next Friday, where I will be kicking off a new feature on my blog called Friday Focus: Spotlighting Marylanders Who Are Making a Difference. My first Focus will be on the firefighters and EMTs at our local volunteer fire station. If you live in Maryland and know somebody who should be featured, please drop me an email (theoldmanse (at) gmail (dot) com) and let me know.

2. I continue to be overly grateful for my Lines of Love team at school. They are doing so much to help others who are battling depression and anxiety, and I am certain that their efforts are making a strong, positive impact with the members of our community. They have put together a strong campaign for next week to provide a little stress-relief during mid-terms. The posters, the lollipops, the “YAY” banners, and the Stress Buddy stress balls all send the same message: there’s a lot to celebrate, and even when we feel like there’s not, we’re never alone.

The Point:

There are good people doing good things all around us, all the time. The problem is that the few idiots and bullies out there who are wreaking havoc tend to overshadow the good that is out there every moment of every day.

This morning, I was reading a CNN article about the heroes of the Tuscon tragedy, and I was floored by the number of negative comments left below the article by people who were appalled that CNN would continue to “milk this story” by making “those people” bigger than life. It saddened me greatly to think that there are enough of these idiots out there who really embrace hatred and mean-ness to show up en mass at a CNN website.

I keep thinking that this can’t be compared to some kind of battle, but I see no way around it. We must continue to rise up, blanket our communities with kindness through selfless acts and contributions, and we must not allow our worlds to be dominated by individuals wielding weapons in front of grocery stores.

When I think back to what my Lines of Love team is doing at school (and beyond), I feel like we need to take a lesson from their “love life” instruction booklet. We have no idea what kind of an impact a poster will have that has a smiley face on it and the words, “You are not alone” printed below in a neat teen’s hand. We don’t have to know. All we can do is put it out there. Throw our Lines of Love out to all who wish to receive, and know that, odds are, we’re doing our job well, and those in need will find a smile or seek out the resources that are available to them, right now.

We must do the same thing in our lives. I don’t have to direct my smile to a specific individual; I can just smile, and know that it is a very contagious thing indeed…

Three Other Things That Made My Day:

1. Lots of Purple Pride around Baltimore today, as we gear up for our game against the Steelers tomorrow at 4:30.

2. Holland is in Tennessee for her gymnastics tournament. I’m not happy that she is not here (ahem–more ice cream for us); rather, I am happy that she is with her team, out of state, and happy to be traveling elsewhere in the country doing what she loves so much: Gymnastics.

3. Red Robin (Yummmmmmmmmmmmmm….) 🙂

Journeying Words:

“What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.” ~Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.