Just a thought… People say, “What is the sense of our small effort?” They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time. [Dorothy Day]
You can watch a video version of this journal on my Facebook page, or here on YouTube.
First of all, thank you – as always – for coming by. For a lot of this week I’ve wondered what on earth to write here. There is no way of putting a shine on anything that is happening which, of course, changes minute by minute. Our hearts are in Ukraine and with the people sheltering, fleeing, suffering and dying. So many families shattered forever – and for what?
Anyway, staying here with the positive, I came up with an idea.
On Monday I told you that the Canadian government is matching donations to the Red Cross, up to 10 million dollars, by its people – us. Rob and I made our donation and then, as I lay awake in bed ’til 3 am yesterday, I wondered, Okay, what else?
That’s when the idea of sharing our bounty (in more ways than one) came to me. You know I do these Drift sleep stories, right? As I hope you also know, they’re absolutely free now: no cost to download, no fees, nothing. Just yours as a gift, my thanks for the many days I woke you up…and now get to put you to sleep.
Luckily for me, I have partnered with two Canadian RNs who started up a company I love, whose product I love and have used for some two decades now, called enVy Pillow. Kathy and Kim were the first people I reached out to when Rob and I took control of this dream project of ours, and they said “yes” to partnering and sponsoring us right away.
This isn’t a sales pitch – and if you don’t know me better than that, well, I don’t even know what to say, except that, of course, I’m not talking about Ukraine in one breath and asking you to give or help me in another. No, this is free to you.
With every download, every listen to a Drift story, I will take the money that I receive for the short Envy Pillow announcement I start each story with, and donate it all directly to redcross.ca. Rob and I are doing this for the month of March – so we’re two days in already and I’ll go back to the first to start counting. It won’t be a whole lot, but it’s something. And I do it with Kathy and Kim’s blessings.
Right now, every bit counts. And all you have to do – get to do – is listen. Go to Drift, where there are already dozens of sweet age-old stories – and a few I’ve written myself – that start with gentle music and a few breathing exercises to get you into the perfect spot to start to drift off. Then, after a half-hour or so, if you make it to the end of the story (and I hope you don’t) you’ll hear soothing waves for five minutes.
To mark this new start today we’re making available to you a story that I think fits the times: The Brave Warm Heart of the Steadfast Tin Soldier. It’s a tale from Hans Christian Andersen of loyalty, of duty and of love shining through – even among the ashes.
This truly is the least that I can do, and in making this and the other 40-some stories available to you for free, thanks to enVy Pillow, it’s my hope that you’ll find some rest for your weary mind and body. It’s my wish that you’ll be sleeping just a little better, while perhaps helping someone else to do so, too, somewhere down the road.
Thank you – and I wish you, wish us all, peace this weekend and always.