Of messages and bottles

No action performed with positive intention is pointless. If you feel that something is worth doing, then do it. An action is worth performing if it benefits just one person. 

An action is worth performing if it benefits only one person. A word is worth writing if only one person reads it (even if that one person is its author).

No action performed with intention is pointless. Its worth, its value, its point may not be immediately obvious. But at a minimum, positive action performed with intent will accumulate, will gain momentum.

When I write a word on this blog, I am writing for the love of the words, hoping that I might even momentarily tap into that wonderful flow state when the words write themselves.

The endless river

I see both social media and the blogosphere as an endless river. The words and images that we share via these media are messages in bottles. They might find their audience immediately. They might find their audience tomorrow, next week,next month, next year, next decade, next century. They might equally float endlessly on that endless river, or sink to the riverbed, never to reach another person. All this is as it should be.

This river will flow past endlessly. If one person’s words or images do not grab you immediately, another’s will be along in just a second.

Think always of this river. Dive in. If you feel that an action is worth performing, a word is worth writing or speaking, an image is worth exhibiting, then do it. An action is worth performing if it benefits only one person.

A few weeks ago, I received the kindest words of encouragement from my friend Nicky, regarding something I had written:

“Keep doing it. If it speaks to one person your work is done.”

This river will flow past endlessly. Be part of it. Dive in.

IMAGES

• Message in a bottle, via Wikimedia Commons.
• Delta of Ganges River, via Wikimedia Commons.
• Sunset at Padma River, via Wikimedia Commons.