This
week I am going to write of one “small” act of kindness every day. Lately I have been lax in noticing kindness, and I think by taking
time to sit down and think about, then tell
you about one seemingly tiny act of kindness given or received everyday, I will
get back into the groove of being alert and receptive to kindness. And I hope the stories of “little” kindnesses
will help you to be more alert and notice them in your lives, too.
Day three:
Art-O-Mats*,
if you have never been lucky enough to happen upon one, are old cigarette
machines repurposed to dispense ART. I
am kinda sorta in love with Art-O-Mats.
We have one in DC at the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery, and I am a huge
fan of it!!! Anytime I take a visitor to
that museum I make sure to take them to the out-of-the-way room that houses the
Art-O-Mat, and I try and make sure my enthusiasm is clear and contagious so
that they will invest in art!!
The
thing about Art-O-Mats is, see, they are a SURPRISE!! You put your money in, then choose a knob to
pull, and bam, just like that, your little piece of real live art pops
out! You can have a general sense of
what you are getting – there is one little space for the artist to “advertise”
their work, but trust me, it is a total crap shoot. (Side note:
once my sister Sherry and I laughed soooo hard we cried when the art I
got turned out to be, well, not really something we thought was attractive… That artwork is now proudly displayed on our
mantle. Another Art-O-Mat piece hangs in
our hallway.)
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| Art-O-Mat in DC |
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| My sister and I examining our choices... |
Anyway, recently we went to the Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala, Florida and I was
thrilled to see an Art-O-Mat!!!! I got
the required token ($5) from the gift shop and headed back to the machine to
make my big decision on which knob to pull!
When
I got there, 2 young girls were also intrigued by the machine. “You have to get a token!! You put it in there!!! Then you pull a handle!!!!!” they excitedly
told me. “I know! Isn’t it great???” I replied. The three of us nervously examined all of the
choices – it is so hard to pick! One
girl really thought I should invest in the “mystery” choice – whose only “sneak
peek” was a bunch of question marks… But
I had my heart set on a Florida artist, and I didn’t know where the question
mark artist was from, so I moved on…
I
finally decided I wanted to pull the knob of the art whose provocation was “Wednesdsay:
Washday, World’s Smallest Solar Dryer” crafted by Washday Miracle Clark Houck
from Deland, Florida. (The fine print
said, “Wow is it tiny!” 😊 )
My two new friends were happy with that choice. I put in my token. And let me just tell you, those two little
girls and I were psyched!!
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| Can't you just feel the excitement??? |
Then
I decided to let the little girls pull the knob for me.
Maybe
that doesn’t seem like a lot to you. And
I agree, it is not a huge thing.
But,
for me, it was a tiny act of kindness.
Cuz, let me just be honest here, I really wanted to pull that knob
myself… I don’t have kids, and I guess I
am a pretty independent person. And really,
the fun part of Art-O-Mat machines is pulling that knob and seeing your artwork
pop out… But those little girls deserved
that fun, too, so I was happy to say, “Do you want to pull the knob for me??”.
Well,
I thought they would pull it together, but it turns out the older sister was
maybe a bit bossy, so she pulled that sucker out on her own, which was fine,
the younger girl was happy just to be a part of it all I guess. And that older girl quickly ripped the box
holding my artwork opened, and the three of us smiled and marveled at what was
revealed: it was indeed the world’s smallest solar dryer!!!!
Isn’t
it fabulous?
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| Look!!! It is the World's Smallest Solar Dryer! Thanks, Clark Houck! It is terrific. |
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| Close up, with hand for size :) |
* In
writing this piece I did a bit of Googling and found some info on Art-O-Mati. You can learn more about them here: http://www.artomat.org/
Keep your eyes open for kindness, and keep buying art!
