I awoke this morning thinking about Danusha Laméris’s poem, “Small Kindnesses”, and Rosslyn. Two discrete points of reference mingling, as if in conversation. Two planets passing, briefly eclipsing, a gravitational closeness, a tender but fleeting affinity, an ephemeral communion.
The echo of a question in Laméris’s lines lingers. Like a hint, a glimmer of affirmation. Perhaps even a promise?
“Only these brief moments of exchange.
— Danusha Laméris, “Small Kindnesses” (Source: New York Times)
What if they are the true dwelling of the holy…”
If this resonance extends beyond my own waking imagination — and so far it has — then I might be approaching a point when/where I can comfortably describe Rosslyn as a locus of love. (Uncomfortable with this? Too woo-woo? Fair. Might be a good post to skip. Try another.)
Reality check: I’ve already described Rosslyn as a locus of love, though glancingly.
As a hub for our love of family and friends, Rosslyn has over-performed year after year, drawing her tribe together to celebrate life’s joyful events: birthdays, holidays, sunny summer days, snowy winter days, and loving, memory-making moments as diverse as the people she nurtures and nourishes.
This… is an enduring and abundant feeling of affection. A sense of sanctuary. Comfort. Belonging. Rosslyn is an oasis, warm and welcoming, that acknowledges and recognizes. An oasis that cultivates relationships.
(Source: Feel the Love)
Not really so woo-woo, right? Home as kindness exchange, as benevolence bourse, as relationship incubator. Home as locus of love.
From the outset we recognized Rosslyn’s ample abundance. Her capacity for cradling and nurturing. This property best blossomed into herself, into her potential, when she was full of life, full of family and friends, ringing with laughter, wafting with comforting aromas of shared meals, reverberating with music and storytelling, thriving with activity — industry, sport, dance — and weaving her playful perfume through the theater of life thriving on her stage.
And this brings me back to “Small Kindnesses”, a poem by Danusha Laméris included in Healing the Divide: Poems of Kindness and Connection (Green Writers Press, 2019). You can read the full poem at the New York Times link or on the author’s website.
Better yet, check out this creative rendering of the poem as a sort of interpretive dance.
What a potent packet of words and observations! Nourishing hope. And confidence. And reminding us gently to notice, to be receptive to, the small kindnesses. Subtle civilities. Sweet gifts of compassion and encouragement.
This too describes life and work at Rosslyn. Another sort of poem. A three dimensional living poetry. An environment for sharing experience; cultural, architectural, and environmental heritage; organic, homegrown food and fun; revitalization and rehabilitation; creativity — combinatorial and collaborative — and hand-me-down husbandry; adaptive reuse and wabi-sabi;… A poetics of place.
I don’t think that Laméris overreaches in wondering if there might be something genuinely sacred about these brief exchanges of kindness and goodwill. These small communions might even inspire us to become better versions of ourselves. At the very least they enrich and reward us, reaffirming our humanity and our gratitude.
These were the wonders commingling in my mind this morning. Maybe morning musings that will evanesce with the advancing hour. Maybe a glimpse into the mysterious machinations I’ve been exploring…
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