At best.          .          .

I might have met him only once or twice.            .            .

At best.          .          .

I might’ve had the cordial

‘how are you’

‘it’s nice to meet you’

exchanges.            .            .

At best.          .          .

I was nonchalantly looking through Instagram and saw Jake Nicolella’s random photograph of a seemingly ordinary subway ride in New York City with the follow captioned thoughts:

“This world.  Right now.  There are trees turning orange with the fall, and trees that will remain lush year around.  There are old men biding time in the mall food court reminiscing about what was, and teenagers infinitely scrolling, dreaming about what’s next.  Right now.  Existing in this moment.  There are grandmothers, friends, hopes and lessons to be learned.  There are people you will never know, or even think to know, made up of all the same flesh, time, and wonder that brought you to this moment.  Right now.  There are small, enraged men with weapons of war and fear in their hearts.  Compelled to take lives that  were never worth that fear and never theirs to take.  Again and again and again.  The ripple of their actions will cascade pain for generations  Right now.  Fear disguised as patriotism.  Fear sold as justice.  Fear burnt ass red hot fuel to beget more fear.  But right now.  There is also the last car on the M train at 6:58 pm.  There are two men.  There is a mother.  Her seven-month-old baby.  A group of high school students.  There is a shared moment that lets me know that fear has no chance.  That fear has no place here in this moment.  There are eight lives intersecting from different points of origin, heading toward unknown and likely different terminuses, and everything is going to be okay. Here.  Right now.  Everything has got to be okay.”

Being a Caring Catalyst

 means caring enough about others

that you’re always willing to be a pupil as you become teacher.          .          .

No matter who a professor might be,

or what the lesson might be taught,

If you always care enough to be taught

care enough to learn the lessons in the

o r d i n a r y

see what only an unsuspecting other

can show you.          .          .

then you’ll have found the cure for blindness

.        .        .A T      B E S T

Sometimes the best way

to see anything in another way

is through another’s eyes

and then

ONLY    IF    YOUR’S    ARE

O P E N       E N O U G H

to not only see

but  understand
what  you  are  viewing.       .       .
R  I  G  H  T       N  O  W

Thank you, Jake Nicolella

for showing us all that

t      h      o      s      e

who   hold   the   light

prospered from the one

who   supplied   the 
m           a           t           c           h