Light a Candle: Give Back and Give Thanks!

It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness. 

This proverb has always been one of my favorite sayings.  Sometimes I think it should come with the following addendum, however, "although it is easier to curse the darkness." 

Because, lets face it, it is easier to complain.  Especially in this era of internet connectivity and social media platforms.  It's easy, tempting, satisfying, and even vindicating to rail against all that irritates, annoys, and infuriates you.  I'll admit that occassionally venting my spleen here on the interwebs provides a temporary high, but in the end, it does nothing.  In fact, for me this idea creates the mental image of a pitch black space with a bunch of people wandering around shouting what collectively seems like nonsense as all of their complaints combine.  And unless we're playing a metaphorical game of Marco Polo--this is pointless. 

Lighting a candle, on the other hand, seems inherently useful in this situation.  Light a candle in a dark room and you can better see yourself, the space in front of you, and depending on the strength of your candlelight you might even be able to see the bigger picture of the room itself, other people in it, and possible ways out. 

But enough with the metaphors,  lets talk reality. 

Photo provided by DaGoaty.

Lets light a candle in the darkness of Black Friday.  This is a candle we're lighting at my sister's store {moxie} on First Avenue in Hibbing.  We recently discovered the dire straits that the Hibbing Food Shelf is is, so today we're collecting non-perishable food item donations on their behalf.  The need is great for staples like pasta, pasta sauce, ramen noodles, canned vegetables, and canned fruit.  Anyone who brings in one or more non-perishable food items to the store today will receive 10% off their total purchase. 

Food drives and clothes not your thing?  You can always send a check directly to the Food Shelf or whatever charitable organization makes life a little brighter in Hibbing. 

Yesterday's Thanksgiving holiday and the days leading up to it were a wonderful exercise in being intentionally grateful.  Just the act of being thankful is a great way to light a candle of two, care to join me? 

Please comment on this blog post or adjacent Facebook posting, with something about Hibbing that you're grateful for. . .this could be a person, a kind deed, an organization, an activity, whatever.  Also feel free to seize an opportunity today to do a good deed--hold doors open, shovel someone's walk, write thank you cards, smile. 

Lets challenge the darkess of today by lighting many different candles on what could be known as "Give Back Friday."

Here's a match. 

Go.