RIPPLES

…small important actions…

…so, I am standing in cold water.

The bay, which can turn choppy when the wind is up, is calm. The surface is a grey mirror.

In the distance, a wild duck lands, then lifts off again, leaving behind a brief disturbance in the skein of water.

There is fog. I cannot see the island opposite where I am standing. All that is visible is the slow, milky flash of the green buoy light in the middle of the channel.

I look down at my pallid feet, shifting slightly on the sand beneath the surface. I move my legs as if that might keep them warm.

On the grey skin of the water, I notice small ripples spreading outward from my knees. As they travel away from me, they grow fainter, yet they continue—quietly interrupting the mirror, fanning out across the larger expanse of the bay.

Those ripples make me think about how we all have the capacity to send small, positive undulations into the world.

Some people create larger waves. Occasionally, even tsunamis. Those forces can be constructive or deeply destructive. That is both the comedy and the tragedy of the world we inhabit.

Too often, the news is filled with stories of large, negative waves—generated by graceless, vulgar, selfish, and unethical individuals. The cumulative effect can feel overwhelming, numbing us with a sense of diminished humanity. That is a shame.

Because we retain another kind of power.

Each of us can create small counter-forces—quiet, intentional acts that accumulate. With like-minded colleagues, friends, and strangers, these modest gestures can begin to offset the noise and violence of larger disruptions.

We all have the potential to send out good ripples. And sometimes, those ripples reach others, who then send their own onward. Through a small act, we can generate exponential joy.

At this time of year—when generosity feels closer to the surface—that truth seems especially available.

So I hope we might all pause to consider the small, good ripples we can create: now, and more perennially. Ripples that help others. Ripples that compound. Ripples that, over time, may grow into waves that make the world more humane for more of us.

Keep well—and create good ripples…