How Small Gestures Can Become Healing Acts
Over the last few weeks, we have heard from many in this community that they are hurting. From the continued escalation of gun violence in America and the ongoing brutality and oppression of the BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ community, to the unknown economic stability and looming inflation, we hear you.
It can feel like humanity is tearing itself apart with division, anger, angst and anxiety. And all we want to do is be swaddled in a blanket and held close. To find safety.
While it may feel like there is no end or easy way out of the malaise that we find ourselves in, I would like to offer one idea to help ease things a little – conscious acts of kindness.
While kindness may not be the first gesture that comes to mind when we are deep in the weeds of emotional response, consciously standing in our own humanity and offering something from the heart can be an incredibly powerful salve to others who are suffering. And maybe, a motivator for others to do the same.
Gestures of kindness do not need to be elaborate, grand, or recorded for “the ‘gram.” Not everything in modern life needs to be a visible and traceable action.
In real life, what does that look like?
Here are some ideas.
Organizing food or care for a loved one who is under duress, taking one thing off their plate. Connecting with a friend or loved one who may seem isolated. Offering help to a colleague working on a project. Adding your voice to publicly support others where they may not feel safe enough to do it themselves.
Kindness can also extend to yourself. Saying no to situations that compromise your values or integrity. Staying in bed that little longer to rest. Adding play to your day to entertain the inner child who may need extra nourishment.
Above all, kindness has the potential to transform into a much bigger act. We must have the courage to stand with hearts open and to be transformed by love.
As French poet and novelist Victor Hugo wrote, “The great acts of love are done by those who are performing small acts of kindness.”
Love hard,
Beck
What We're Reading:
Here's what has piqued our interest this week in the world of wine and mindfulness.
What to Know About 988, the New Mental Health Crisis Hotline, by Dani Blum in the New York Times (possible paywall)
The new national suicide hotline, which has expanded its focus to help callers experiencing a range of mental health emergencies, launched July 16.
Turning the Tables on Cathy Huyghe, by Carl Giavanti on Wine Industry Network
Can data, mindfulness and wine writing co-exist? Yes! From writing and "zigging while others zag," to managing mindfulness, to whether you can actually make a living writing about wine, check out the full interview.
Varietal Psychology, by Rainer Schäfer for TRINK Magazine
Can certain wines channel our moods and perceptions in different ways?
What It Takes to Reach 100, with Centenarian Deborah Szekely, the "Godmother of Wellness," by Erin Hunt Moore on Medium.com
A conversation about legacy, longevity and impact.
From Dry January to Fake Cocktails, Inside the New Temperance Movement, by Jason Wilson for The Washington Post
Many Americans are reconsidering their relationship to alcohol. But if we drink less, is that automatically a good thing?
East Pole Gin Sees Strong Opportunity for Mid Strength Category, by Brydie Allen for The Shout / National Liquor News
The founder of recently launched East Pole Gin believes "there is a future way of drinking in that mid strength space."
Meet the Community!
Here we meet some of the talented folks who make our industry so dynamic.
Antoine Abou-Samra, Founder/Host of A Table For Two and The Wine Hour (Beirut, Lebanon)
Years in the Industry:
I launched A Table For Two mid-2019, right before the crisis in Lebanon and COVID-19. It was a reset in my career and a desire to be involved in something meaningful and purposeful.
The idea was to join two areas that I loved the most in the past 30 years. First, there is food. It started in 1990 when I sold Lebanese dishes to students in the dorms of McGill University (in Montreal), where I did my undergraduate degree. Then, in early 2000, I launched a health food catering business in Lebanon. On the media and event side, I was the producer and host of a daily radio show dedicated to jazz (1993), and through the ‘90s, I worked extensively with the media (TV, printed press, radio), and organized small to large scale events (up to 120,000 visitors) while I was promoting action sports in Lebanon.
A Table For Two is about sharing experiences and journeys with the audience. It's about using Food and Wine as an excuse for a conversation on the major issues of our times.
My Top Three Challenges to Wellness:
Keeping motivated
Not every day is easy. As a former top athlete, I am aware of what the state of flow is. But to achieve it is another matter. Keeping motivated is hard day in and day out. I am lucky to have found a strong purpose, but my mind keeps nagging me.Being Focused
Focusing on a task or an objective is key to any progress. But that focus is hard to keep as we have an innate resistance that keeps bringing us back to a place of comfort. When I am focused, I can push back the resistance. But it takes a few seconds of doubt or extra thoughts to bring it back. And when the resistance is play, procrastination kicks in, delaying what I have do.Procrastination
I have had a tendency to procrastinate for many years. It’s about postponing things to a later day, and eventually doing things at the last minute. It’s about not facing the tasks that need to be done. It’s about thinking about an action, and being satisfied with the thought of it. It keeps me in my comfort zone. I’ve dealth better with procrastination through the years, but it still keeps showing up and destabilizing the balance I try to achieve.
How I Keep It Together to Stay Well:
Sports
In the first half of my life, sport was an integral part of my professional and personal life. As a former top athlete competing at the international level (Snowboarding and Windsurfing), it was defining me. When I started a more “corporate life” following my MBA at INSEAD, I lost that daily activity. Now, 18 years later, I picked up that routine again, with the goal to complete an Ironman triathlon. Besides the goal, the daily training has brought back a certain balance that I missed. It’s an integral part of being healthy not just physically but also mentally. Sport has that magic effect of merging the two. It also helps being focused and pushing back my tendency to procrastinate.
Introspection
If there is one area that has no end, that is the discovery and understanding of the self. Starting A Table For Two was a trigger to understand the reasons of my past failures and why my life took the path it did. By complete chance, I started reading Carl Jung. His writings had a huge impact on me. It showed me that very often we don’t want to face the questions of how and why we are what we are and do what we do. Most of the time, we are on an automatic mode, just cruising through life. Why dig out the dirt when on the surface it’s smooth sailing? But eventually, what is underneath (what Jung calls the Collective and Personal Unconscious) resurfaces and make us do things we were not expecting (and not always in the positive sense). So, introspection has been key to staying well.
Disconnection
Being surrounded by negative energy, thoughts or people is draining. Living in a country like Lebanon, which is experiencing a catastrophic financial, economic, and social crisis, I had to use coping mechanism to not be dragged in the general marasmus. I am grateful to have that opportunity. Creating a bubble where positive energy flows is a key aspect of staying well. That may be my introvert part, but it is definitely something I need every day.
What Inspires Me:
I am always in awe of nature, be it the sea, mountains, or forests. If there is perfection on this earth, it’s nature. Being in harmony with or surrounded by it is always a wonderful and inspiring experience.
People dedicating their lives to a higher purpose are a big inspiration, whether it is to make our societies better, care for others, or simply express their talent. The amount of dedication and sacrifice is very often hard to deal with. But they keep doing what they do because it’s all that matters. And it’s not about the money or prestige. That selflessness is rare.
A Quote I Love:
"Every individual needs revolution, inner division, overthrow of the existing order, and renewal, but not by forcing them upon his neighbours under the hypocritical cloak of Christian love or the sense of social responsibility or any of the other beautiful euphemisms for unconscious urges to personal power. Individual self-reflection, return of the individual to the ground of human nature, to his own deepest being with its individual and social destiny—here is the beginning of a cure for that blindness which reigns at the present hour." Carl Jung, in October 1918
You can connect with Antoine on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, or on Spotify (The Wine Hour or One on One Podcast), and on his website.
