The Witchy One | Hope, Healing and Humour | Kindness

How Kindness Can Change A Life Immediately

And the ripple effects begin…

“You cannot do kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Yesterday afternoon, I had just finished meditating when I heard two raps on my cottage door, followed by its familiar creaking. Witchy appeared in the parlour moments later, grinning from ear to ear.

“Hi, Witchy! You’re looking especially happy today!”

“Oh, Liberty! I am ever so very happy!”

“That’s exciting! Let me get some sparkling water and then you can tell me all about it. Would you like some?”

“Oh, yes, please! That stuff is so much fun! It tickles my nose and it is so refreshing to drink! Except…” She screwed up her face.

“Except what?”

“I don’t understand why it tastes so different — and rather unpleasant — when it has not been in the fridge.”

“Yeah, I don’t get it either. It’s weird. It’s only good when it’s icy cold. Even on a chilly, rainy day like today, I still want it cold!”

I retrieved two glasses of delightful fizziness from the fridge and returned to the parlour.

“Okay, Witchy, what’s got you extra happy today?” I set down the drinks and threw another log on the fire before sitting opposite my little friend.

“Well, I woke up today thinking about that poor little chicken who is so busy crossing the road all the time. So I decided to surprise her with a day off. Plus I booked her at the spa for a facial, a full body massage, and a pedicure for her scrawny little chicken feet. They must get awfully sore with all that road-crossing.”

“Witchy, that was really lovely of you! I’m sure she was over the moon!”

Cocking her head to one side, Witchy frowned in puzzlement. “No. How would she do that?”

“Oh, I don’t mean it literally. It’s a figure of speech,” I chuckled. “It means she’d be very excited.”

Staring at me in silence, Witchy blinked a few times. And then, “English is so dumb.”

“Sometimes, yes, it is.” I had to agree. “Anyway, that’s a great reason to be so happy!”

“That’s not the thing that has made me so happy! I mean, I did that so the chicken would be happy, which she was, and that made me happy. But I wasn’t trying to be happy by making her happy. So her being happy is not why I’m happy.”

My head was spinning. I am getting used to these conversations but they do still make me a little dizzy sometimes.

“I understand, Witchy. I think. What you did is called a random act of kindness and we do those not for our own joy, but for the joy they bring to someone else.”

“I thought it was called giving the chicken a day off and a day at the spa.”

“Yes, well, I’m referring to the fact that you wanted to do something to be kind.”

“But I didn’t do it to be kind. I did it so she would have a special day that would make her feel good.”

“I understand. I mean, from the chicken’s perspective. She would have seen it as an act of kindness.”

“Oh.”

“You could read Rebecca Romanelli’s story about random acts of kindness; she explained the subject very well.”

“I will. I always love her stories.”

“I do, too! Anyway, are you going to tell me what made you happy?”

“Yes! I think our friend, Jimmy Misner Jr., did one of those…that thing…a random…a random…what did you call it?”

“A random act of kindness?”

“Yes! That! Did you see what wrote? He said such nice things about us!”

“Yes, I did, Witchy! I was going to show you today.”

Leaning closer to me, she glanced over both her shoulders as if checking for listeners. Not that there was anyone in the cottage but the two of us. Bending her head toward me, she whispered, “I think I want to crush him!”

Taken aback by her words, I gasped audibly and sat up in something bordering on horror. “You want to what?”

“To crush him!” she whispered a second time. Suddenly, her face went from its usual lovely blue to a soft lavender as she blushed, Transylvania-Forest-witch-style. Lowering her head, her eyelashes fluttered as she said softly, “I think I like him!”

Relieved, I couldn’t help but giggle. “You mean, you have a crush on him.”

“Isn’t that what I said?”

“Uh, not exactly,” I smiled.

After a few thoughtful moments, she spoke again. “Um, Liberty…do you — um — could he — ” She stopped, obviously embarrassed.

“What’s the matter, Witchy?”

“Well, do you think…I mean…I was wondering…do you think maybe he could be my boyfriend?”

“Witchy, I’m sure he would be honoured to be your boyfriend. You’re pretty special. But he lives thousands of miles away. And…well…if you thought your 712-year-old ex-boyfriend, Vladimir the Vampire, was a much younger man, I can promise you Jimmy is definitely not the best match for you. I don’t think it would work out too well, even if he lived nearby.”

Her face fell; her shoulders drooped as she sighed heavily. “I knew it would be too good to be true. I didn’t think I could ever get over what Vladimir did to me. I didn’t think I would ever be willing to have another boyfriend. And now I am but it can’t work.”

“Well, there’s good news, Witchy.”

“Really?” Beaming, she leapt up from the chair. “Do you think I have a chance with Jimmy?”

“No, Precious, that’s not what I was going to say,” I replied, as gently as possible.

She dropped into her chair, her lower lip nearly hitting the floor in a pout.

I continued carefully. “I was going to say…the good news is that because of what Jimmy did, you’ve been able to see that you’ve healed. You can see that you’ve moved past what Vladimir did to you and you’re ready to find another boyfriend. It means maybe you’ll find someone better for you.”

“Someone nice like Jimmy?”

“Yes, only someone who lives a lot closer to you. And is a lot older.”

“But…how do I stop wanting to crush Jimmy?”

“You can’t just turn it off, Witchy, but I’m sure there will come a time when you meet someone nearby and you’ll like him even more than you like Jimmy.”

“I can’t imagine,” she said, positively swooning. 😍

“I’m sure you can’t right now but it’ll happen someday. And in the meantime, you can be grateful for Jimmy’s gift of kindness. He wants more people to meet you and he didn’t even realise he was giving you another gift…the gift of knowing you’re ready to move on from Vladimir.”

She was silent for a minute. And then, “Do you want to crush Jimmy? He said nice things about you, too!”

I laughed. “No, Witchy, I don’t, but I’m deeply grateful for everything he said. I like him in a different way than you do. He’s a good friend. Actually, he reminds me a little of one of my sons.”

“Whew! I’m glad you don’t want to crush him, too. Just in case he wants to be my boyfriend.”

“Oh, Witchy, speaking of gifts and surprises…”

“We weren’t. We were talking about Jimmy being my boyfriend.”

“I mean, in general. All this talk about the surprise gifts for the chicken and for you and me with Jimmy’s story about us. I have a little surprise for you, too!”

“You do?” she beamed. “What is it?”

“I had something made for you and it arrived today!”

Crossing the room, I got my laptop and showed her my gift.

“It’s a new logo to put on your drawings!”

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. Her jaw fell open and she gasped. “Oh, Liberty! Wow! This is so beautiful! The spider is even cute! But it’s also terrifying because of my rack of…what did you call that? A rack of…”

“Arachnophobia.”

“Yes. That thing. I wonder if Jimmy has it, too😍.” (Seriously, when she mentions his name she looks like that emoji. Except she’s blue.)

“I don’t know, Witchy. Anyway, I’m so glad you like it!”

“I have never seen such a beautiful logo!” A couple of clear blue tears rolled down her cheeks as she smiled. “Do you think Jimmy 😍 will like it?”

Oh, dear. I think he’s opened a can of worms he wasn’t anticipating…It’s probably a good thing she can’t fly anymore after her “spells went wonky” and she crashed her broom into a tree. Otherwise, I suspect he would find her on his doorstep.

“I’m sure he’ll love your logo.”

“Well, I certainly do! It’s the best! Thank you, Liberty!” Throwing her arms around my neck, she pulled me close for a big hug. “I can’t wait to start putting it on my drawings!”

“I’m so pleased! I was lucky; I found an excellent designer who heard and understood exactly what I wanted. Not everyone has such great listening skills.”

“I’ll bet Jimmy does 😍…”

Oy vey. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Here’s a short story from when Witchy learned about being stuck:

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