Every day in my Dad’s art class I sat with a kid named Joe. Joe didn’t have a lot of friends. I tried to be kind to him when not a lot of others were.
We talked music a lot. He liked Korn and Marilyn Manson. I liked DC Talk and Tourniquet. We were very different Joe and I. But I was always kind to him when not many others were.
One day Joe surprised me with the most simple and cheap of gifts, a brand new plastic cassette (yes cassette) case. He had brought it to school to give to me to keep my guitar picks in.
For 22 years I’ve been opening the same old plastic pick case. It’s definitely not new anymore. It’s almost falling apart now.
I spent about 170 days sharing a table with Joe. Sharing kindness. Talking about music, art, video games, and God. Just kids being kids and trying to figure out who we were in the world.
Most of the people I’ve met are still trying to figure that one out. While so much has changed in my life across the decades I try to keep one thing the same—kindness.
I shared a table with a kid I had almost nothing in common with. I showed kindness. One day he returned that kindness. And for 22 years I’ve been opening this trophy of kindness to bring music into this world. I couldn’t even begin to count how many thousands of people have listened to me make music over the years. Music I made on a guitar pick I pulled out of old plastic case given to me by a kid who was grateful for kindness.
Be kind. You don’t know the difference you are making. Your kindness adds a bit of music to this world. What’s something incredible you’ve seen happen as a result of kindness?