Starry Skies and Gentle Sighs...

Occasionally you're reminded of your humanity in the gentlest of ways, something that doesn't hurt, or harm, maybe something that doesn't even demand that you step over it, or move out of the way. Sometimes someone else says something simple and you're a better person having heard it.

Our friend Mel recently wrote a small blog post about the passing of a local man in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. He was more widely known for the inhuman sufferings his days were full of, than for the human being that he was. He was a fixture at the Carroll Gardens subway station. He sat there in his wheel chair, sometimes saying sweet things, almost always panhandling, and for decades the people in the adjacent neighborhoods came to know him well. Some remembered him fondly and some did not. That's life, I suppose, but when Mel's words passed my eyes I was reminded that, no, that's life. Being reminded that somewhere, someone sees the world through sincere eyes, is an epiphany.

It's funny. There are a lot of things that I hope Zoey grows up to be but if she can find just half the gentle sincerity with which Mel approached this day stopper, I'll be a happy Dad. It doesn't take all that much, just be yourself, and be good at it. It's easier if you see the world the way Mel does...and now with all this Heart On My Sleeve madness stealing so much of my focus, Mel is the first person to overtly remind me why I'm doing it in the first place. If just one more person can inspire kindness and perspective in another then the world is better, and then what happens if that idea spreads...well, there'll be no stopping it. A lot of people have been asking me just what exactly is Heart On My Sleeve? Sometimes it's harder to explain than I imagined, but now I can just say, it's Mel.

Oscar Wilde once wrote, “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars,” and I can't help but remind people that those stars are there all of the time. Sure, sometimes it's difficult to see them but there's a big difference between cloud cover and just never looking up.

Thanks Mel. Tonight I feel good about the world.