What is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?
If you are lucky (and I hope you are) you will have lots of answers to this question. Maybe someone brought you dinner when you were grieving a loss. Maybe someone tucked a love note into your jacket pocket and you pulled it out at exactly the right moment. Maybe someone had just the right words for you when you needed them most.
For me, it was something my high school boyfriend did for me.
Albie had asked me to the prom and we had arranged to double date with my best friend and his. My girlfriend and I were putting the finishing touches on our makeup in the bathroom mirror when we heard a curious sound outside. “It sounds like a carnival,” she said, her brow furrowed. We ran to the window just in time to see an ice cream truck rolling into her driveway. Then we watched our dates jump out and call up to the window, “Your chariot awaits!”
Albie had hired the ice cream man to chauffeur us to the prom.
We would not be taking a limousine (totally not my style) but an ice cream truck! We piled in and quickly discovered that there wasn’t a whole lot of room to sit, but we didn’t care. We sat on laps and lounged over freezers full of ice cream sandwiches and popsicles. When we arrived at the dance, everyone cheered and applauded as we got out.
This story still gleams in my memory. First, because of the kindness. I’m not sure he did it just for me (it was likely for his own delight) but it didn’t matter. He knew I would love it. Albie was the first person to see the artist in me. When everyone else saw something more typical – cheerleader, studious, good girl, jock… he saw my artist self and always welcomed more of her to come out. On our first date, he drove me to the beach, handed me a sketchbook and said, “Draw what you see.” And then looked down and started drawing in his own book.
He took it for granted that I had an artist in me.
And his creativity awakened my own. His irreverence and imagination showed me another way to be in the world. His desire to do something special and unique gave me a story I’ve been telling my entire life.
Albie was making his own magic. And I was lucky enough to be around for some of it.
And that thing about maybe he was simply delighting himself? There’s wisdom there. When we are delighting ourselves, when we do things that make us feel alive, it ripples.
I’m here to pay it forward. I’m taking the artist in you for granted too. I am offering this course and saying, “Make some magic. You’ve got this.”
This course is a collection of stories, prompts, worksheets and lessons that will get you in touch with your own ability to cultivate ordinary magic. It is an invitation to step into a world that is a little more colorful and a little more wondrous.
We will be waking up the creative spirit in us in service to bringing more kindness to the world.
We will engage in creative play to loosen our minds and open our hearts – which allows us to see the world through a different lens. We will connect to our joy. And hopefully, if we get it right, we will be offering our community stories that they will keep telling for the rest of their lives.
Join me for Cultivating Everyday Magic!
The adventure begins Monday, September 11th.
$49 for 4 weeks of creative play + secret missions of kindness.
by Danielle Laporte
