It’s all about joy!

Leo at Zen Habits wrote a fantastic post yesterday entitled, “Faith in Humanity: How to Bring People Closer, and Restore Kindness.” At the end of it, he asked bloggers to write posts about how they intend to pay kindness forward. (In return, he’ll feature those bloggers in a post he’ll write called “The Bloggers of Kindness.”) His timing couldn’t be more perfect. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I can reach out and connect with more people and be more helpful within my own community. As such, this weekend I plan on volunteering at a nursing home to help them decorate for Christmas. Next weekend, I plan on volunteering at a local food shelter to help them inspect and sort donations.

This volunteering thing is new for me. Being an introvert, I usually invent a hundred reasons why I can’t “do it alone.” I’d rather volunteer with someone, and then I conveniently don’t ask around to see who’s available.

Not anymore! It’s becoming more and more important for me to step outside of myself and (as Leo pointed out by including Gandhi’s wonderful words) “be the change” I wish to see in the world.

Another idea that my cousin and I were discussing last week when I visited her in Seattle is microloans. There’s a site called Kiva that lets you donate money directly to needy individuals with unique small businesses in the developing world. Rather than giving money to a charity that often has high overhead and isn’t able to use 100% of what’s donated for the cause in question, Kiva offers a direct connection to those in need. What’s more, there’s a chance to see progress and witness, firsthand, how an amount as little as $500 could change someone’s life forever. I encourage anyone interested to at least check out the Web site. At some point, I think Oprah featured this on her show (which always gets me excited).

In any event, reading Leo’s post on kindness brought me great joy today, and I hope he’s inspired hundreds of thousands of people to pay kindness forward in whatever ways they can.

The other day, I had the pleasure of drinking my first ever cup of straight-up, hip hop Starbucks coffee. A friend surprised me with a grande black coffee, which she assumed I’d enjoy because the day prior, we’d gotten coffee from a local coffee shop together.

For years, I’ve heard people refer to Starbucks coffee as burned, too strong, bad tasting, etc. Personally, I love Starbucks, but have only ever ordered their lattes and Frappucinos. That may change from here on out. After devouring that grande coffee my friend bought me, I may be a convert. Yes, I tasted the after-effects of over-roasting, and it’s all I could smell in my office for hours afterwards, yet somehow, it pleased me! This morning, I couldn’t help remembering the exact smell and taste of that coffee, and found myself craving it.

It just goes to show that it doesn’t always pay to listen to others’ opinions and take them on as your own without doing a little research first. In this case, I found a new beverage that I really enjoy, despite other people’s bad reviews of it.

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If you’re a Starbucks fan and haven’t yet found this site (Starbucks Gossip), check it out. It’s a blog that discusses all things Starbucks. It’s run by someone who isn’t affiliated with the company, and gets tons of traffic from baristas and customers, alike. I find a lot of what they talk about - especially the comments and open threads - fascinating.

Last night I was watching a Wayne Dyer special on PBS about the Tao Te Ching. I was moved by his discussion of the 80/20 rule. According to this rule, we only use 20% of what we have, and the other 80% we hold on to “just in case.” It’s the extra stuff that we keep around in the event we may want to use it (enjoy it, experience it, etc.) in the future.

He continued by challenging people to give away that 80%. In doing so, he says, we free ourselves.

I’ve been learning a lot lately about how attachment, clinging and desire cause mental suffering. When we live in a state of wanting more, trying to hold on to what we have, and fearing loss, we imprison ourselves. We stress, we’re anxious, we worry, we lament… These mind states, as I’m sure everyone can relate to, are a bit unpleasant, to say the least! However, when we move into a space of contentedness with what we have and who we are, we allow ourselves peace.

My goal is to figure out the right balance for myself. At what point do contentedness and aspiration cross? I can’t imagine a world where people aren’t trying to improve themselves or their situations (mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, or even materialistically). In adopting a mindset of contentedness, do we necessarily abandon aspirations for self-improvement? What would the world look like if that were the case?

I met a student of Theravada Buddhism last summer who was wracked with thoughts surrounding his series of seeming failures. He’d been trying to put the theory of the law of attraction and manifestation to work in his life to bring about successes that eluded him up until that point. It struck me that his studies in Buddhism, which teach us to simply observe and accept that which is, may be at odds with his desire to create more in his life.

So how would one go about balancing that?

I don’t have an answer right now, but after watching the Wayne Dyer special on PBS last night and contemplating the 80/20 rule, it’s given me more to think about.

At the very least, I’ll rejoice in thinking about what of my own 80% I can part with. I like the idea of detaching from material objects and creating more energetic space in my life. I have a feeling I’ll be writing more about this as I have time to ponder it, so if it’s something that interests you, please stay tuned…