A few nights
after the recent presidential election, I saw that there was a peaceful
candlelight vigil planned for outside the White House. We live nearby
and I have been feeling very upset and sad about the election results, so I
decided that this vigil would be a good way to surround
myself with like-minded people and focus on peace and love.
 |
| The White House the night of the candlelight vigil |
As the event drew nearer,
the organizers updated the Facebook invitation to clarify that no actual
CANDLES would be allowed. The Parks Department said
they would drip wax all over, and the organizers would have to pay a fine for
clean-up of the mess. Although it was
disappointing to imagine a “candlelight vigil” with no candles, it made
sense. The invitation encouraged people to bring flashlights or
glow sticks instead, but it really seemed like that wouldn't be the same, you know
what I mean?
The night of the vigil we
rushed around the house when it was time to go trying to find 2 working flashlights. Why is it that every time you actually NEED a
flashlight, the batteries don’t work anymore?
Happens every single time… We
finally found 2 lame flashlights and rushed to
the vigil. We settled in amongst the
crowd in Lafayette Park (across from the White House) and waited for the event to
begin. There were quite a few people,
and I soon realized that not only would real candles be MESSY, they would have been
DANGEROUS, too. With that many bodies
close together, most wearing big coats and scarves, candles could have easily caused a
fire.
As we were waiting, the
sweetest, most kind thing happened: a
complete stranger was walking through the crowd handing out little battery operated TEA
LIGHT candles. He came up to us and
offered them. We had the lame
flashlights, but his candles were SO PRETTY – they were
delicate and perfect. I asked if he was
working for the vigil and he explained that he was not, he just bought a bunch of tea
lights to hand out because he thought the vigil needed them.
 |
| Mystery kind man - passing through the crowd with LOVE |
CAN YOU SAY KINDNESS
ACTIVIST?? I snapped a photo of him,
hoping to be able to do some P.I. work when I got home and figure out who he was, then
interview him for this blog. As luck
would have it, another vigil attendee in the Facebook group saw my message that I was
hunting for him and helped me discover his identity! Meet JORDAN FIGUEIREDO – the kind man behind the tea
lights.
 |
| Our Kindness Activist in action! |
It turns out he is not even
a LOCAL – he lives in the San Francisco, CA area! He was in DC for work at just the right
time for the vigil. He told me, “I signed up on Facebook to
attend the event and was reading some of the posts and noticed the Parks department said no candles
because of the wax. I thought this vigil would send a much nicer message with
candles so I found the
battery-operated LED tealights at Bed Bath and Beyond. I ended up buying about
200 of the tealights for about $143.” You read that right – this man spent almost
$150 to hand out candles to complete strangers.
It was so wonderful!!! I saw loads of people
holding the beautiful little tea lights that he so generously shared.
 |
| A little girl on her dad's shoulders holding a tea light that Jordan handed out |
I knew how
happy I was when he gave us candles, but I wanted to know how other people
reacted to his gift of a candle. “It was
so great to see people's reactions and hear their thank you s. Some people did
look at me like I was selling something at first,
but I understand that from other events and people with bags of things to sell.
Mostly people were surprised and
thankful and seemingly touched when they noticed the "LOVE" message
on them.
Yes, Jordan had
taken time to write LOVE on each of the
little candles. It made them so
special! They were beautiful.
 |
| My family - glowing with the kindness and love that Jordan shared |
Jordan told me that the tea light
is a good reminder for people to bring home with them, and I know in my case
that is totally true - mine is now on our fireplace mantle and it makes
me smile when I see it there. He said
that writing “LOVE” on each tealight, can, “…hopefully
send a ripple of hope and love with each person that receives one. It's a tough
time for love and hope in the U.S.
right now but most of us value civil liberties, freedom, and our beautifully
diverse and usually welcoming nation. We just
need to never forget these things and #LoveWillWin .”
 |
| Kindness and love |
THANK YOU Jordan. Thanks for the candle, and more importantly,
thank you for the MESSAGE and the kindness.
Yes, let’s all work together and LOVE
WILL WIN.
 |
| #UglyReallyIsBeautiful (in reference to the CARROTS, not to Jordan!! He is LOVELY inside and out) |
Be sure to “like” Kindness
Activist on Facebook and follow @KindActivist on Twitter to see more inspiring
stories of kindness. The world can certainly use more KINDNESS.
No comments:
Post a Comment