Alisa's Craft Corner: Be The Good

On September 11, 2001, as I sat watching tv while rocking my baby, I felt a great need to reaffirm that there is good in the world. It was a way to cope, for lack of a better word. As the news unfolded and through the next weeks while watching people post signs and listening to them ask if anyone had seen their loved ones, my heart broke, knowing that their loved ones were surely gone. I would look into my 4 month old baby's face and think to myself, "See, there IS good to be found, so much good.  I am holding 'good' in my arms." I then took great comfort in hearing the stories of how people rallied together- how they streamed in from all over the country and world to help. I was reassured that there are far more good people in this world than there are bad.

Now as I hear about various horrible things happening in the world around me, most recently the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy, my first reaction is to find any possible good in what happened.  Do not mistake my meaning. What happened was too heartbreaking to be considered good in any way, shape, or form. I am talking about what comes after, what helps with healing. It comes by having faith in mankind restored again and again as we see and hear about those who courageously help, how people can rally and stand up against those who are capable of such terrible things. Because the reality is that MOST people are good. And we need to notice the good that is there if we just look. More than that, we all need to consciously do more to BE the good in this world. To make an effort to do random acts of kindness, both IN and OUT of our homes. To be sure we teach our children to also BE the good in the world.

With all of this on my mind lately, I wanted to create a reminder.  I thought that this sign from Wood Connection would be perfect, only I wanted it to be on the boards I had already cut out, so this is the end result: