Quiddities Dev, Inc.

Yesterday, the MLK National Day of Service, was a big exciting experiment in the name of research for our Children’s Hospice project - I Spot Compassion. We were out on the streets of Santa Cruz asking folks to tell us where they last spotted compassion. We had adorable kids holding I Spot signs, handmade purple spot carpets and thick skinned video-camera-toting interviewers putting themselves out there, interacting with the general public in a way that can sometimes make you feel foolish and self-conscious.

When looking at the day in context to the paradigm shift that’s going on in our country, our results were quite interesting. A lot of people said they don’t spot compassion anywhere. What’s up with that? No compassion? Anywhere? We have our work cut out for us. Because, ultimately, what we are trying to do with Children’s Hospice is seed a revolution of compassion. That seems overwhelming to some, but it doesn’t have to be. There are so many small, easy acts of kindness we can do throughout the day, but when added together with the other masses of humanity and their small acts, really add up.

It seems so simplistic, but I think we just might need to remind eachother. I was driving across town this afternoon, late as usual, and I had to really, really think about letting other drivers merge in front of me. When did that happen, this silo-sighted view of my relationship with traffic (me, me, me!)? Fresh off the compassion imprint from yesterday, I did slow down and let others go in front of me. Some may not call that compassion, but if I was letting another harried mom go first, I think compassion is what it was.

There is so much more to think about in starting this project, particularly after today - inauguration day, where Obama over and over called us to service. Service is compassion’s cool big sister, you know, the one you look up to and hope to be like one day. I think we can start small and work our way up. Try it, it’s really not that hard and once you start, maybe it will become one of those good for you habits like flossing, or eating your vegetables.