Where are you looking? (What do you see?)

The number of dead in Myanmar has reached 100,000... and I fear it won't stop there, especially given the difficulty aid organizations are having getting into the country, the lack of available food and clean water, and the number of survivors left without shelter.

Of course, this is not the only devastating event going on in the world. It just happens to be where our national attention is pointed at the moment. I often wonder what it would be like to have access to more information about the good and bad going on in the world.

Would it provide an even more balanced perspective? Would it reinforce the theory that power is in larger part recognition... that we give strength to things by noticing them, naming them, spending time and energy on them? Or would it overwhelm us? Leave us feeling powerless and impotent in the wake of so much sorrow?

I think it's useful, at times, to remember how amazingly beautiful and generous people are capable of being. To notice and take in the many acts of kindness taking place each day, to feel gratitude for instances of honesty, dignity, and care. I suppose, to me, it provides a bit of balance and helps me stay positive, rather than getting pulled down into despair. (Despair, for me, equals paralysis... which ultimately does very little to help anyone.)

One such tiny story was reported today. It involves a very expensive violin, a very panicked musician, and a very honest cab driver. You can read all the details from multiple news sources, but here is the quick version:

A famous violinist left a $4M violin (on loan from someone else) in a cab. The cab driver, Mohamed Khalil, returned it, and the musician played a free concert for a bunch of cab drivers in the parking lot of an airport in way of saying thank you, which seemed to be a big hit with the cabbies. Khalil also received a medal from the Mayor, a cash reward from the musician, and free concert tickets to Carnegie Hall for himself and his family.

I've read some comments online from people who feel it's a silly thing to make such a big deal about... that it's a waste of time to honor someone for doing what he or she should do in the first place.

I lean toward feeling maybe it's something we should do more of in our lives. Why not celebrate acts of kindness? Why not recognize people for being truthful? Why should we hesitate to show gratitude toward those who show the very best of themselves and, in so doing, show us the very best of what is possible in all of us?