By Scott Allen
Now that I am in my 50’s, I have been giving some thought to the fact that there are probably more years behind me than ahead. As a result, I have been focused on the concept of a Higher Purpose and how having such a directive can transform people’s lives.
Pondering this objective several years ago brought me back a full decade, to a time when I attended the eulogy of a close friend. He had lived a full and good life. The church for his funeral service was full to overflowing. Person after person stood up to speak in glowing terms how he “gave back” to the community through volunteerism that benefited a local hospital and little league. He held high-profile chairmanships and spent countless hours in these non-profit positions.
It got me thinking what people might say at my funeral. Sure, I would get a few people to say I was a good father, husband, and friend, etc, etc…the things that get said at funerals for those of us who do not change the world like Gandhi, alter the consciousness of a nation like Martin Luther King, or positively affect an entire community like my friend.
But you know, not everyone has the temperament, or the circumstances or, dare I use the excuse, the time to make that kind of impact in the world. Ultimately, I decided to do what I am sure all of the people I just mentioned did—I started small.
Then a movie came out that you might remember, Evan Almighty. It was the sequel to the Jim Carry movie, Bruce Almighty. In Evan Almighty, Steve Carrell plays a Noah character, and he is tasked by God (Morgan Freemen) to build an Ark in modern day Washington, DC. Of course this is a crazy idea, and Evan resists, but eventually he builds this giant Ark. The climax to the movie is that the big Ark is not the point,
It is what the acronym A.R.K. stands for that matters—Acts of Random Kindness.
I came to the conclusion that would be my path. I would be open to spirit and look for “ARK” opportunities. So the last few years I have been keeping my eyes open for “ARKs.” But in the back of my mind, I wished for some vehicle for a Higher Purpose to be able to manifest through me during my time on the planet. Then I realized the answer stemmed from my past rather than some time in my future.
The Perfect Shell
When I was a boy growing up on the Gulf beaches, I would go for long walks with my grandmother. We collected shells and learned the common names of many of them, from Alphabet Cones to Lightning Welks. Shells were plentiful back then, and we would only pick up the perfect specimens. We would see the tourists pick up broken shells, and think how silly that was. Why collect a broken shell, why collect a broken anything? In retrospect, how wrong we were.
I still collect shells, and just over a year ago my girlfriend Donna and I were visiting friends on the east coast of Florida. I was excited about that chance to find some east coast shells, but when I got to the beach I was disappointed to see piles and piles of broken shell pieces and virtually no whole shells. The larger waves on the east coast break up the shells into small, coin-sized pieces.
One thing I quickly noticed, however, is that these broken shells pieces were not sharp on the bottom of my feet as I walked along the beach. In fact, they were all very smooth and shiny. And interestingly, many of these shell pieces also had colors and a luster more like a gemstone than a broken piece of shell.
We ended up collecting a pocket full, not sure what we would do with them, but just thinking that they looked and felt pretty darn cool. I put them in a bowl on the coffee table at home, and soon I would find myself picking up the bowl and running the shell pieces through my fingers back into the bowl. Call me crazy, but I found myself feeling connected to the ocean from doing this, and it had a soothing effect on my inner beach bum…I mean Higher Spirit.
I decided I had to do something with these fragments, and I ended up making them into a necklace for Donna’s birthday. At about this same time, I was a volunteer for a local nonprofit called Ready for Life. It is a wonderful organization, recently profiled in the Tampa Bay Times, that helps foster care kids make the transition from foster homes to being on their own once they turn 18.
I was on the fundraising committee that was in charge of getting items for the silent auction. A couple days before the auction, as we were bundling up the donated items, someone said they wished we had some jewelry donations. Before I knew it, I found myself saying that I would make up some necklaces to contribute.
That evening I was telling Donna about the necklaces, and it took all of about 90 seconds to come up with a name we thought was perfect—Washed Up Designs. We created five necklaces and put them in the donation pile. Wouldn’t you know it, all the pieces sold at auction and we thought, “We might be on to something here”.
Small Gesture, Big Impact
Over the past year, we have given away bunches of them outright and tithed many to other charity silent auctions. We have even sold a few at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary gift shop, which benefits that worthy cause.
My favorite story of how tithing a necklace helped to transform thinking came from an encounter with a Mental Health Counselor who deals with many people struggling through broken lives caused by addictions or divorce. In the shell piece jewelry, she saw an analogy of beautiful shells broken into pieces, with hard, sharp edges that through time, get transformed into something beautiful again in the form of jewelry made and given with kind intent.
As another example, last Christmas and Valentine’s Day I took my jewelry making supplies to a local retirement home and made jewelry with the lovely ladies there. On Valentine’s Day, one lady who was in a wheelchair came late and said, “Oh my, did I miss the jewelry making?”
I said I was sorry, but yes she had. I remembered that I had one necklace I had made in my bag. I took it out and put it on her and said it was her Valentine’s Day present. She teared up a bit, and said she didn’t have anybody. I said, “You do now”, as I bent over to give her a hug. It transformed her day through an expression of caring and love!
The point of ARKs is that you don’t have to make a big splash in the world to help transform people’s lives one individual at a time.
Those small acts may not seem like much at the time, but they add up to a big impact in our communities and our world. Every person we touch in a positive way sets in motion a chain reaction that keeps the goodwill flowing forward for many years to come.
Scott Allen attends services and is a volunteer and contributor at First Unity of St Petersburg. He has a degree from Florida Southern College (FSC), with training in social sciences. Scott is an avid reader and practitioner of New Thought, and has had articles published in various magazines. He is the proud father of three sons, and is blessed with a beautiful partner, Donna, on his spiritual journey. Contact Scott, and check out some photographs through his facebook page at washedupdesigns@gmail.com