The last few months have asked us to search within ourselves and within others for hope, community and joy. It has called us to reflect, to breathe, to focus on slowing down. It has called us to speak up for what we believe in, to understand and listen to others while seeing things differently. It has called us to reevaluate what it means to be a part of the larger community and how unity can be created for all in the U.S.
It has called us to remember the things that we as humans have accomplished and overcome and that while the work still continues, and will continue, each of us brings something to the table, and we have done incredible things made up of teams of many, uniquely different and special people.
- The moon landing: accomplished by Neil Armstrong, Buss Aldrin, Michael Collins and a far larger team on Earth, humanity reached the stars. While this started with a space race, people came together and applied themselves to achieving this common goal collaboratively.
- Hands Across America was an event in 1986 in which 5 million people held hands for 15 minutes while singing to raise money and awareness for the hungry and homeless.
- Prior to the moon landing, John Glenn was sent to orbit the earth supported by the human “computers” in the space program, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan (to name a few), as shown to us by the novel and movie Hidden Figures.
- In February 1980, the U.S. hockey team, made up completely of college players, pulled out the Miracle on Ice, when the very young team beat the dominant Soviet team to win gold. The Miracle on Ice stood for many as a symbol to the defeat of the Cold War, and a uniting point for so many as the U.S. was working to overcome so much.
- The “Dream Team” takes over the 1992 Olympics’, a team built of some of the best in basketball. The team won all eight games and defeated Croatia in the final game to bring home the gold medal.
- The tech revolution of the late 80’s, through the early 2000’s, brought some of the best in minds together, and continues to do so, as companies such as Apple, Microsoft and Google developed so many of the tools and technology products on the market today. The first personal computer with a mouse and graphical user interface was created by Apple (Steve Wozniak & Steve Jobs) in 1983/1984.
Today, we here at KLIK, would like to acknowledge the experiences that have occurred the last few months and also, spend time highlighting positive ways that you can bring joy to your own community.
- Write a letter to a soldier via Operation Gratitude, particularly with the celebration of the Fourth of July.
- Find local non-profits or organizations you can support and volunteer with. There is an abundance of organizations that are looking for assistance, especially with the impact of COVID. Sites like https://www.volunteermatch.org and https://www.allforgood.org can provide a variety of options, including virtual volunteer opportunities, if you don’t know where to start.
- Start a random act of kindness train. Leave baked goods or artwork with a note on their front step with a note giving instructions to pass the kindness on. Start with a few neighbors and step back to watch as the kindness spreads. An easy way to organize this is to have an act of kindness week – each day for one week do one act of kindness for someone in your local community. Not only will it boost your mood, it’ll help boost the energy of those in your local community too!
- Plant a tree or flowers in your neighborhood.
- Take your family, a group of friends (social distancing), put on some gloves, and clean up a local park, beach or neighborhood.