Today, shall we contemplate a little on two words: Kindness and Famous?
These are the titles of two poems by Palestinian American poet Naomi Shihab Nye, that I came across recently. I found myself coming back to these poems again and again.
Sometimes, poetry needs to be read again and again, to grasp the magic behind the words and to appreciate the depth of the ideas and feelings.
So, what is being famous?
“I want to be famous in a way a pulley is famous
Or a button holeNot because it did anything spectacular
But because it never forgot
What it could do”
As I listened and walked, I couldn’t help smiling. A complete twist on the meaning of the word famous. OK, then, I thought to myself - I am famous too. I am famous to the stray dog who is walking along with me right now. And, she is famous to me. We are famous to each other. I might be famous to that one reader who reads my notes. I am famous to the old lady in temple who I gave some fruits. And her smile is famous to me.
The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.
The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it
Famous is the one who smiled back
“Famous is the one who smiled back”. Indeed.
An honest and selfless deed. A kind smile.
Being famous can be a simple, ordinary and spontaneous act - an act that doesn’t try too hard. Honestly, it doesn’t even need to be an act. It can just be an honest, selfless and kind wish towards someone who needed it at that moment.
And most important of all, be famous to yourself.
Get rid of the burden of thoughts from your mind that is always chattering: look, I am giving; look, I am praying; look, I am meditating.
And what about kindness?
“Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.”
Kindness is the dissolution of your ego. Kindness is letting go. Kindness is letting others be as they are.
Poetry is one thing, and then the practice of it in real life is damn hard. “Let go” - two simple words but the one who tried knows how difficult it is. And the one who could let go, knows that act made him one with everything else. And that is the secret to real kindness.
Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
It is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend.
Yes, it is only kindness that makes sense. And, one who is kind is famous.
Links to the poems -
Famous:
https://poets.org/poem/famous
Listen / watch “famous” by Poetry Foundation
Kindness:
https://poets.org/poem/kindness
Image by: Narges Pms