Day 154 - Jasmine

Thought of the day: I had a good conversation with Jasmine tonight.  We were walking home from dinner in the dark.  It was chillier than expected so we cheered each other up with stories.  She retold the story of Stone Soup, which she learned in preschool. When I asked her what she learned from the story, she said "Sharing makes people happy."  Indeed, fearing your neighbors and, in general, being too self-defensive can make your life bleak and miserable.  On the other hand, opening up your heart and sharing with your community can make your life richer and happier.  Sharing may even save your life during an emergency, as manifested by Japanese villagers who were trapped and isolated from the outside world in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami.  Apparently people in the trapped communities promptly organized themselves, shared their supplies and duties, bended together and survived until they were rescued.  In a way, in the face of the emergency, an entire village came together to make a big pot of stone soup so everybody can share and stay alive.  These real life stories warmed my heart and made me admire the human spirit and gave me hope for our collective future.

Photo of the day:

Jasmine on the way to dinner, with grandma, daddy and Lila in the background.  It's another sunny, beautiful spring day in Boulder.