Finding Kind

Well, here it is, my attempt to weave social media 

into my character message:

Font by Kimberly Geswein

And while my little learners may be too young to be chirping on Twitter right now, if they aren't already familiar with this iconic blue bird, they probably will be in the very near future. So I put it out there, in time for Friday's Valentine's Day parties. Click {here} to read an article about how a Kindergarten class uses this social media. A huge thanks to Terri, my go-to design guru, for adding her artistic flair and making the blue birds of happiness for us and to my friend Melanie, who saw me struggling to use a stapler and flew in to help me get it done.

On another note, have you seen the trailer for the Documentary

 Finding Kind?

It really grabbed my attention when I was stumbled on it this week because each one of those girls interviewed could have been me. And my guess is that many of us have a similar story.

 Mine goes like this. 

It was the springtime of junior year and the eight of us were as thick as thieves. We went everywhere together and always had so much fun. There was no reason to think it would ever end. That is, until our leader decided that one of the girls would no longer be welcomed in our group. Yep, kicked off the island, so to speak. It's been more than thirty years, but I remember it like it was yesterday, because, although I wasn't the one who decided she was out, I felt so bad for her ... but I did ... nothing. Worse than doing nothing, I went along with it. And then, there were seven. But that wouldn't last for very long. Soon after that first girl was unfriended, so to speak, someone else had to go. Even numbers were just easier, I guess. 

And it was decided that I was next. 

I was no longer invited out with them or included in their fun. Ostracized, abandoned and very much alone, I finished out junior year in an emotional fog. I found myself making plans to get a summer job in Chicago, miles and miles away from home, so that I could forget and move on. Fight, flight, or freeze, right? I chose flight so it wouldn't get ugly, and I never looked back. In my mind, there was no way that I could face those remaining six at the picnics, parades or county fairs that we would have gone to together. Even the girl who was ousted before me didn't want to be my friend, and I couldn't blame her. I was a mess inside for a very long time.

Interestingly enough, to this day I'm still not quite sure why ...

 And yet, I gained a confidence that summer in my role as a nanny that I never would have had had I stayed in that rural town to lick my wounds. We all handle sadness in our own unique way. And that's probably why Finding Kind interests and intrigues me, because we are all so different, and still so very much alike. 

I can't help but wonder how the situation would have been different had I had the courage to leave the group before I ever got the boot to befriend the other girl through her painful period of rejection and loss. And since our stories shape our future, I'm sure that my situation at age seventeen fuels my passion today for worthwhile causes like the Kind Campaign.