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Welcome! This is a place to share how we celebrate & deepen our relationship to Nature. Here you will find stories, images, & ideas about wilderness, human nature, & soulfulness. Drawing from the experiences of everyday living, the topics on this blog include: forays into the natural world, the writing life, community service, meditation, creativity, grief & loss, inspiration, & whatever else emerges from these. I invite you on this exploration of the wild within & outside of us: the inner/outer landscape.



Friday, September 23, 2022

Not a Waste

Please don’t, 

for even one second,

imagine that 

 

your act of kindness, 

your expression of gratitude, 

your smile, 

 

is wasted on someone, 

or 

wasted on behalf of something you care about. 

 

For that is the death knell of kind action, 

of grateful feelings. 

 

Kindness 

and 

gratitude 

are not wastes 

 

of time, 

of effort, 

of heart. 

 

They are not “wasted” on people, 

even when the gesture is not reciprocated … 

 

perhaps especially if it is not returned in kind, 

especially if it is shunned …

 

For that is when—

and for whom—

the tenderness is especially needed. 






 

(Orig. posted in 2017.)



All blog images created & photographed by Jennifer J. Wilhoit unless otherwise noted. Please circulate images with photo credit:
"© 2022 Jennifer J. Wilhoit/TEALarbor stories. All Rights Reserved."
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