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In this December Compassion Story Kate Anderson and Jim Levinson explore the concept of Blue Zones and how they relate to the idea of compassion. Check out the story.  Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash From this November's Compassion Story: "I first met GiGi, a small young black pig living on a local farm, on a very icy and cold December day in 2016. GiGi stood alone, away from the herd of much bigger pigs in a fenced area. She walked with a limp. One of her hind legs couldn’t touch the ground. I started to visit her regularly, no matter the weather, and GiGi started to notice me and came to greet me." Read the whole story on the Reformer website. Gretchen Eberle runs Off the Plate Farm Animal Sanctuary (offtheplate.org) in Montgomery Center, VT and she wrote a Compassion Story about a person who happened upon her sanctuary and paused to think more deeply about the animals living out their lives there. Read Gretchen's story about her sanctuary in The Brattleboro Reformer. John Ungerleider writes in the newest Compassion Story: "As a project of the Greater Falls Community Justice Center (GFCJC), based in Bellows Falls and Springfield, we have brought Afghani woman muralist Negina Azimi to paint murals with students in area schools. We focus on the theme of justice. In restorative-style circles, students discuss what justice means to them and generate themes, words, and mostly images that Negina can incorporate into a mural." Read more about this mural project. This recent Compassion Story explores the relationship between crossing guards and the people they seek to protect from vehicular traffic. Read the story in The Commons. The 2023 Brattleboro Area Unsung Hero Award was presented to two remarkable area musicians, Mary Alice and Peter Amidon, who have sung so often and so beautifully for the living and the dying, for justice, love and compassion, for members of our community both new and longstanding, and for children of all ages. Such generous and meaningful service to us all! Now, at long last, we have the privilege of singing for them. Compassionate Brattleboro gives out the Unsung Hero Award annually. This ceremony was held at the Centre Congregational Church in Brattleboro on June 13th. We were moved to write this month's Compassion Story after hearing an interview with the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy. A one point in the interview he offered these words of compassion: "[W]e are all worthy of love and connection, even in those moments when we feel that we perhaps aren’t, even in those moments when we feel like we’re the only one who might be struggling. The truth is, we are not alone. There are others out there who want what we want – a world that is more connected, a world in which we can actually be there for one another, a world that’s actually powered by love and that is within our grasp." Read this month's Compassion Story on the Brattleboro Reformer website. We were intrigued to see a story in the Christian Science Monitor about how reporting the news through a lens of kindness could help alleviate the suffering so many people feel watching, reading, or listening to the news. You can read the article on kindness in the news on the Monitor's website. From this month's Compassion Story: "Compassion drops into the waters of life, leaving a profound rippling event that can touch others for generations. This love for others that springs from healing is a human trait that is also a huge gift to humanity. When considering addiction, which is indeed a form of suffering, compassion is the most helpful and humane response." Read "Healing from the Ground Up" by Hope Payson on the Brattleboro Reformer's website. Linda Hay writes in this Compassion Story: "When Jim Levinson asked for a story about compassion and opening my home to young women from Afghanistan, I smiled ... because these past few months have transformed my own life. I could never have imagined that these young women would be calling me “Mama” and presenting me with balloons and flowers on Mother’s Day. And yet that is what came to pass. “Taking the chance” and making that commitment turned out to be very much the right thing both for my Afghan “daughters” and for me." Read the whole story. |