Greetings to everyone in our hive in this new month of November. Jazi and I are excited to share with you a taste of the feast of holidays this month that we thought you might like to know about. As we looked at them, we noticed they share a thread: light, connection, and kindness, each one growing into the next.
Let’s start with light. By the time this newsletter flies into your inbox, Diwali, the monumental, ancient Hindu festival of lights, a five-day celebration just concluded on November 10th, so Happy Diwali to all my friends! This holiday honors the spiritual triumph of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. What a powerful, marvelous reminder to all of us to keep shining our own light and expressing our highest self. We can each participate in our own way by lighting a candle for peace, prosperity, love, or whatever we wish for to help uplift humanity.
Light is meant to be shared, which brings us to a brand-new holiday I learned about from The Parnas Perspective. This Thursday, Nov. 12, is the first National Day of Connection, launched by The Cost of Loneliness Project. Their call to action is called “Take 12 at 12.” The Parnas Perspective puts it this way: “The idea is simple: at noon local time, stop what you’re doing and spend 12 intentional minutes with a friend, family member, neighbor, coworker, or someone you’ve been meaning to call.” It’s a sign of our times that we need a reminder to reach out. With technology overtaking our quiet moments, we can forget how powerful a simple connection is. Maybe it can become a tradition that extends into our everyday lives.
And connection can naturally lead to kindness. The very next day, November 13th, is World Kindness Day, created in 1998 with the bold idea that we can deliberately create a kinder world.
Here’s a 1-minute video from Random Acts of Kindness that explains it simply, and you can watch it with your young ones. It starts off by saying, “Imagine what the world would be like if each person did one kind thing for someone else.”
https://www.canva.com/design/DAFSRGd8ctY/watch
Finally, for a daily dose of kindness, I love to watch @globalmindapparel, started by Louis Flowers, who wanted to put as much love into the world as possible because he saw such a lack of it. His clothing line features slogans like “Be the GOOD”. Here’s an example of one of his posts: https://www.instagram.com/p/DelyloPhYej/?hl=en
The light we nurture within ourselves becomes the connection that we can offer to others, and that connection then becomes kindness in action. Whatever way you choose to celebrate, Jazianzza and I hope these days spark a little more of all three in your life.
Jazi’s memoir, Bee-Coming Strong, is a perfect example. When she chose kindness and connection with someone different from her, it led to unexpected joy and a deeper sense of well-being and lightness. She’s buzzing around me right now, asking me to tell you how fun it is to choose kindness! 🐝💙🐝
Much love,
Jazianzza Azzaza Buzzabee and Anandamayi
There is always light. Only of we are brave enough to see it. There is always light. Only if we are brave enough to be it.
— Amanda Gorman