The Tapestry of Kindness
Carol King wrote a song called “Tapestry”. You may know of the Tapestry album, home to many of her early hits. The lyrics are below:
My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue
An everlasting vision of the ever changing view
A wondrous woven magic in bits of blue and gold
A tapestry to feel and see, impossible to hold
Once amid the soft silver sadness in the sky
There came a man of fortune, a drifter passing by
He wore a torn and tattered cloth around his leathered hide
And a coat of many colors, yellow-green on either side
He moved with some uncertainty, as if he didn't know
Just what he was there for, or where he ought to go
Once he reached for something golden hanging from a tree
And his hand came down empty
Soon within my tapestry along the rutted road
He sat down on a river rock and turned into a toad
It seemed that he had fallen into someone's wicked spell
And I wept to see him suffer, though I didn't know him well
As I watched in sorrow, there suddenly appeared
A figure gray and ghostly beneath a flowing beard
In times of deepest darkness, I've seen him dressed in black
Now my tapestry's unraveling; he's come to take me back
He's come to take me back
Many interpretations can be surmised from these lyrics. For us, in these times, it kind of reminds us that our personal tapestry is a culmination of acts from a life time richly lived an experienced. Funny thing is, we never know when our tapestry will be unraveled and someone is coming to take us back. That said, it is economic times like these that test the tensile strength of our personal fabric.
So many people are out of work and sometimes 2 income homes are now 0 income homes. These are truly the most challenging times many people termed, “baby boomers” and younger can remember. But, what are you really made of at a core level? Now is the time to find out.
These times present us with opportunities to extend a hand, paw, hoof, wing or fin of kindness. Maybe you will drop off a bag of pet food, towels, blankets or pet toys at a shelter. Perhaps you will participate in a fundraiser, or pay a vet bill for a friend. If we all do one thing, the world will be a woofier place.
Funny how these things work, if you put an extra bag of food in your cart for the shelter, you might find a two for one special on something else you use on a regular basis to balance out the difference in your weekly bill. You just never know what good things might come or conversely when it could be you who might be the one in need.
Would you want people to turn a blind eye to you? Would you want to be in a position where it was feeding your pets or feeding your family? Do you realize how easily it could be you on the receiving end?
We need to visualize and realize the cumulative effect of each of our random acts of kindness. At TPPC.tv we hear of so many of you doing wonderful things for animals. If you are so inclined to perform a random act of kindness for animals, please email us at kindness@tppc.tv . Tell us what your random act of kindness for an animal was and we will post them on a page on our site. No matter how large or small, the tapestry of kindness is what matters, that’s all.
We want to recognize all of these acts continually happening all around the world so we can see the difference, together, as the animal loving community here at TPPC.tv makes. We have often said that TPPC.tv is content and community we grow together and that we can make a difference one animal at a time. We know our community is full of wonderful, kind, giving viewers! Hopefully we can inspire others to do great things and feel good about all of the wonderful acts of kindness that are occurring, helping to change the world, one creature at a time.
Thank you all for your support of TPPC.tv. We will continue to grow our community and content for the greater good of our animal loving fans all around the world. Woofy Woo! From Lookie Lou and the TPPC.tv Crew!
We have started the Tapestry...These are beautiful sentiments about wonderful people and organizations...
Weaving the Tapestry, all of the threads together build the Tapestry of Love, Hope and Thanks for all of those who do so much!
-Hi, my name is Jeanne and I work with Judy, Linda, Nina, Kelly and Susan at KAT 5 Animal Rescue. We all met online nearly 4 years ago after hurricane Katrina. Susan, with her endless energy and tireless dedication, stayed up 3 days straight pulling all the posts from nola.com where people said "please rescue my animals, here's my address and how to get in". She sent me a 45 page email with all these pleas, and I organized them by area, street, and house # and posted it on my website so that on the ground rescuers would have a list to work from to find the animals needing rescue. The lessons we learned from the team effort then, and the horrors we all saw whether in person or online, changed our lives forever. Since then we have worked hard to make a difference to those helpless animals who find themselves in harm's way. KAT 5 responds when needed in any disaster, natural or man-made. We have rescued animals, interceded in cruelty cases, reunited pet owners with lost pets, helped those in financial need to care for their pets. We also have proactive measures (spay/neuter and puppy/kitten intervention programs). It is easy to get discouraged, because the problem is so overwhelming, but we keep each other motivated. I have a starfish bracelet which reminds me of the starfish story, and I know that even if today, I can't save every one, I can still make a difference. None of us do this for recognition, we do it for love :-)
-Betty Diehl, Rockport, IL donated half of her $1,000 first Prize to Min Pin Rescue!
-Ann Ranlett, @annran5 on Twitter. In the spirit of the tapestry of kindness, I just want to let you know about 3 very special animal rescue organizations in my neck of the woods (Placer County, CA) that I endorse and support. I know there are countless organizations all over the country that are wonderful. And there are other local organizations besides these 3 that I support, but these are extra special.
A Chance for Bliss www.achanceforbliss.com - they take in special needs and senior dogs and horses (and they loooove Boston Terriers). It's still a small organization - started by David & Deanna Bartley. They incorporated in January of last year. They're a wonderful couple, and with a great core group of volunteers, somehow they manage to make this thing on a shoestring work.
FieldHaven Feline Rescue www.fieldhaven.com - I met the director (Joy Smith) a number of years ago when FieldHaven was just a dream. The staff & volunteers work tirelessly to educate about spay/neuter and they rescue all types of cats. They'll try to place feral rescues as "Rodent Raiders" at ranches and barns. Just a wonderful group of folks.
Greyhound Friends for Life www.greyhoundfriendsforlife.org - I believe their home base is in the Bay Area of CA, but there's a shelter facility near me in Auburn. Built on private property, this is a fantastic place. A large fenced area for the dogs to get out and run. Some outdoor kennels and a great set of indoor kennels. They rescue greyhounds from the racing system. Shana Larsen runs the Auburn facility (it's on her property) and she has at least 4 rescued greyhounds of her own. In '08 & '07 they took in females with pups and I was fortunate enough to be able to visit and photograph the 10-week old pups. Absolutely adorable!
I donate when I can to all three of them and I do what I can to get the word out. A number of my Art for Critters sales have benefited these great groups.
-Judy, @Kat5Rescue, Twitter, I feel a bit odd telling you my acts of kindness as I do it for the pets (and sometimes people) but not for kudos or praise but I would LOVE for Kat 5 Animal Rescue and the Denver Dumb Friends League (www.ddfl.org) to receive some exposure and good press. :-) I try to help where I can adn so does my husband. This year Kat 5 is trying to raise funds so we can launch our proactive programs. Kat 5 has historically been more of a disaster response rescue--floods, hurricanes, hoarding etc. This year seems to be the perfect year to become proactive as well as reactive with the expansion of our volunteer base for online endeavors. The new programs will be Litters to Go (SM) for the puppies and their families Cat-22 for the kittens and their families, Traveling Tails (rescue/transport program), Snip/Tuck--our spay/neuter program Dante's Infirmary for HW+, sick and injured pets www.kat5.org
Send info about people in your rescue group and their good work to kindness@tppc.tv
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