Month: February 2018

Why Your “Do Something” Matters

Just days after images of death and horror from the mass shooting at a high school in Florida filled our  TV and digital screens, we are now being jarred by coverage of the funerals for 15 young people and the two adults who perished with them.

As Martin Luther III declared yesterday during a visit to Richmond, Virginia, the fact that such secondary trauma is now routine has resulted in a nation living with post traumatic stress, in perpetual fight-or-flight mode, with a desensitization to the taking of human life.

“Until we change the culture, we’re not going to address the issue,” Mr. King told a roomful of attentive listeners of all ages and ethnicities during a talk at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Yet, he went on to assert that it all starts with individual decisions to do what’s right, to listen to one’s conscious, to follow through with integrity.

As he shared his thoughts on human rights and reminisced about the special times he could remember spending with his father before losing Dr. King when he was 10, I couldn’t help but wonder how, 50 years after Dr. King’s murder, Mr. King maintains hope for a better  future.  He answered for me (and likely others) before the question was verbally uttered.

“I had to learn to hate the evil act and not the person. I’m thankful for the Spirit that teaches you to forgive.”

Even so, he called on each person within earshot to do something, whether locally, nationally or globally, to change their communities and the world for the better.

I too, issue that challenge, in my own way, through the words that follow:

We all can do something to make a difference. 

Speak up.

Stand down.

Listen. Be present.

Empathize. 

Go out of your way.

Give others a chance. 

Be your sister’s keeper, 

your brother’s armor bearer.

Call a local official.

Start a petition.

Volunteer. Give. 

Lead. Teach.

Push through.

Laugh together, cry together.

Hug it out. Press on. 

Use your words for good.

Use your innate gifts for best.

Care more.

Love harder. 

Get comfortable being uncomfortable.

All these things?? This is what a change for the better requires. Daily. 

Will you (we) embrace the call? 

Our world sure needs you (us). 

© Stacy Hawkins Adams

CCO Creative Commons Use.
SHA – Martin Luther King III, speaking at VCU.

Why I Love: Librarians

Throughout this week I’ve read quite a few posts on my various social media feeds about exciting national librarian conferences and about funding issues related to school librarians.

The conversations and concerns reminded me of Mrs. Horn, the sweet, silver-haired librarian at Sam Taylor Elementary School in my native Arkansas.

When she discovered my voracious appetite for reading and saw me zip through books in record time, she took this shy 2nd grader under her wing and not only helped me discover chapter books and excellent authors, but also challenged me to read books that stretched my imagination.


I didn’t get all of the nuances of the novel “Heidi” as a 7-year-old, but that didn’t really matter. What mattered was that Mrs.Horn thought I should try; and as a result, I’ve been nudging myself ever since to try new things, to push past my comfort zone, to be willing to make sense of experiences different from my own, while celebrating and valuing my own.


These days, I try my best to write from that place, too. (One of my first attempts was in 4th grade, when my teacher, Mrs. Owens, let me write our class play, which my classmates willingly performed.)

Thank you, Mrs. Horn (and Mrs. Owens) for being among my many elementary school champions. Your efforts helped shape my memories and my foundation.

What about you? On whose shoulders do you stand? What simple acts of kindness or unsung gestures helped shaped you for good?

Take a few minutes to reflect on this, then if possible, find those heroes or “sheroes” and say thanks. Regardless of whether you reconnect with them, you can honor them by paying forward their generosity of spirit.
~ Stacy Hawkins Adams

CCO Use

3 Steps to Your Next Level

Sometimes you have to

1) Let go to grow

2) Leave behind in order to find

3) Stand up rather than continue to sit

Is this easy? Rarely.

Is it worth it? Always.

For even if you don’t hit the exact mark you’re aiming for, you’ll come closer to being your most authentic, purpose-filled self, and that’s a treasure worth seeking.

When we’re able to release the habits, beliefs and actions that keep us stuck at average or below, the doors to our next-level blessings will slowly but surely begin to open.

Get ready and stay ready.

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