Seriously, We Need More Love Letters
So, I've gone crazy over The World Needs More Love Letters. I know I already told you about it, but I just can't help myself. I have to give you an update.
Today was the last day before my students' spring break. I wanted to send them off on a good note, so I introduced them to the concept and gave them the "homework" to hide love letters of their own over the vacation.
I really do love my students; I want them to come away from my class with real skills that will help them out in real life, but also want them to come away from my class with the understanding that I genuinely do care about them, that they matter, and that I'm here for them, cheering them on. Let's face it, all of us need to know we have somebody in our corner, even if that somebody is a geeky language arts teacher or a total stranger. I guess that's why I love the idea of anonymous love letters so much.
Recently, I've lost some of my former students to suicide. I don't really want to say too much about it because it's sad, and I'm not really sure what I can say about it. I saw the last one a few weeks before he took his own life. He was at work, and we had this really normal, good conversation. It seemed like he was doing really well. I didn't think for a second that he was struggling or depressed, so I felt stunned when I found out about his death. Ever since I've been thinking about how he must have felt and what I might have said to make him understand how important it is not to give up on life. I wish he could have found a love letter; it might have made a difference. It has before. If you watch the video embedded in my previous post, Hannah, the young woman who got the whole love-letter ball rolling, talks about a man whose life was saved by a packet of letters sent by her organization.
I'd like to share another video. This one is from Hannah's website.
Let me say a few things.
First, Hannah is clearly living out her destiny.
Second, I love the way she redefines success. "I think that the way the world has measured out success is a complete myth. I think that it doesn't bring joy and happiness the way we think. You have to know yourself as significant in your own life -- the people you see around you and the people you see every single day." What if? What if we could manage to see how amazing we are and how loved we are -- not just by people but by God? The world would be so different.
Third, Hannah asks us not just to redefine success for ourselves, but to change our entire approach to our lives. She says, "We have this tendency to focus on the 'take aways,' 'What am I going to get out of this situation?' [...] Really, I think we need to focus more on the 'leave behinds.'" She is inviting us to reject selfishness (a good idea).
I'm convinced that sitting down to focus, in undivided attention with a pen and piece of paper, on someone else -- someone I don't know -- can make me happier and better. I have no idea who will find the letter, so there's nothing in it for me. I'm not sucking up or supporting someone who will, at some later time, support me in return. I'm forgetting about myself in order to lift up someone else.
Loving, loving in its most basic form.
I see writing love letters for strangers as just another way to live out something Jesus has asked me to do. He said, "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other." (John 13:34)
I want to be successful in the way Hannah defines it. I don't want to worry about having a prestigious job or be the next big supermodel. Instead I want to live a life rich in "leave behinds." I want people to stand beside my grave and say, "Brandy always loved people." I want the world to be a better place because I was here. I want that for my students too.
One of the best parts of my day today was reading the things my students wrote in their love letters. Somehow they knew just what to say to that stranger who'd find their missive on the table at McDonald's or in the girl's bathroom.
Here are some quotes from their letters:
"You're important. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you're not."
"You are loved."
"Look in the mirror and see how beautiful you are."
"Today is the day that will change your life."
"You are smart."
"Thank you for all the little things you do for other people."
Today was the last day before my students' spring break. I wanted to send them off on a good note, so I introduced them to the concept and gave them the "homework" to hide love letters of their own over the vacation.
I really do love my students; I want them to come away from my class with real skills that will help them out in real life, but also want them to come away from my class with the understanding that I genuinely do care about them, that they matter, and that I'm here for them, cheering them on. Let's face it, all of us need to know we have somebody in our corner, even if that somebody is a geeky language arts teacher or a total stranger. I guess that's why I love the idea of anonymous love letters so much.
Recently, I've lost some of my former students to suicide. I don't really want to say too much about it because it's sad, and I'm not really sure what I can say about it. I saw the last one a few weeks before he took his own life. He was at work, and we had this really normal, good conversation. It seemed like he was doing really well. I didn't think for a second that he was struggling or depressed, so I felt stunned when I found out about his death. Ever since I've been thinking about how he must have felt and what I might have said to make him understand how important it is not to give up on life. I wish he could have found a love letter; it might have made a difference. It has before. If you watch the video embedded in my previous post, Hannah, the young woman who got the whole love-letter ball rolling, talks about a man whose life was saved by a packet of letters sent by her organization.
I'd like to share another video. This one is from Hannah's website.
Let me say a few things.
First, Hannah is clearly living out her destiny.
Second, I love the way she redefines success. "I think that the way the world has measured out success is a complete myth. I think that it doesn't bring joy and happiness the way we think. You have to know yourself as significant in your own life -- the people you see around you and the people you see every single day." What if? What if we could manage to see how amazing we are and how loved we are -- not just by people but by God? The world would be so different.
Third, Hannah asks us not just to redefine success for ourselves, but to change our entire approach to our lives. She says, "We have this tendency to focus on the 'take aways,' 'What am I going to get out of this situation?' [...] Really, I think we need to focus more on the 'leave behinds.'" She is inviting us to reject selfishness (a good idea).
I'm convinced that sitting down to focus, in undivided attention with a pen and piece of paper, on someone else -- someone I don't know -- can make me happier and better. I have no idea who will find the letter, so there's nothing in it for me. I'm not sucking up or supporting someone who will, at some later time, support me in return. I'm forgetting about myself in order to lift up someone else.
Loving, loving in its most basic form.
I see writing love letters for strangers as just another way to live out something Jesus has asked me to do. He said, "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other." (John 13:34)
I want to be successful in the way Hannah defines it. I don't want to worry about having a prestigious job or be the next big supermodel. Instead I want to live a life rich in "leave behinds." I want people to stand beside my grave and say, "Brandy always loved people." I want the world to be a better place because I was here. I want that for my students too.
One of the best parts of my day today was reading the things my students wrote in their love letters. Somehow they knew just what to say to that stranger who'd find their missive on the table at McDonald's or in the girl's bathroom.
Here are some quotes from their letters:
"You're important. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you're not."
"You are loved."
"Look in the mirror and see how beautiful you are."
"Today is the day that will change your life."
"You are smart."
"Thank you for all the little things you do for other people."
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