Read Stories | Watch Videos


Intentions For the Coming Year

It was a delight to share time together, in the spirit of service.

For me, Karma Kitchen is a place to practice generosity and seeing so many such moments yesterday deeply enriches my personal journey.  Thank you.  In particular, I think of that old woman who came in, gifted Heather a hand-made card (with a dollar in it!) that took her several hours to make, and will never know the impact it will have.  I think of Meredith who made the quadruple(!) ginger cake and will never see all the beautiful smiles it created (although we tried to recreate some of those smiles).  I think of Cristina, who explained in her broken English that while she is plating she is really peppering that food with love and how "that's all that matters".  Steve's sisters, who were delighted to see him serve them (for the first time ever, they claimed :)), were touched beyond words when they found out their plate was served by a visiting mother from Mexico.  I think of a  college student, who heard about Karma Kitchen in her USC class months ago, and "had to visit" to believe that there were people who care so deeply about the spirit of gifting.  I think of the Physics professor who didn't want to eat alone, and how Victor stepped up and spent 2 hours sharing a meal with him.  I think of Mariette who brought gifts from India for volunteers to "tag" random guests; inside each little hand-woven bag, she placed a hand-written quote that touched many guests.  I think of those random people who walked into Karma Kitchen, not knowing what it was, and who are now already connected with a group of folks brainstorming to create KK-Chicago! 

And I think of the conversations Rishi had with the guests on his table, and the elated "catch up" conversations that Lachmin and Dipa had while plating in the back, and the smiles Tania constantly served with her orders, the dishes that Andrew and Arthur silently kept washing, and the agility with which Aumatma handled the "interface", the meticulousness of Moses that underscored all our coordination (and our finish at 4PM sharp!), and the ease with which Pancho filled any and every role.  Thank you, all.

One can never truly measure the external impact of such work, but it's quite easy to feel the internal transformation it creates in our own hearts.  Although I didn't end up with an actual role (outside of kheer-eater :)), I was still touched simply to witness all these ripples of goodness set in motion. 

To give you a flavor of the "intention" that people brought into our shared space, here were some of the New Year's Resolutions that people shared:
 

My intention for the next year is to ... affect the world in a positive way ... focus more on what I need than what I want ... show that we can all live as one world instead of alone as each individual ... immerse myself in everything I do ... do what I want to do (live, laugh, make people laugh, travel) ... experience my time away from the US ... to do things I'm uncomfortable with ... to take deep breaths ... suiting up and showing up for life everyday ... look for peers ... to be a little less analytical ... stop introspecting so much ... rise to the occasion ... help our children find the way ... joy, happiness ... find abundance in all aspects for the benefit of all ... be a good steward of my yard, pets, and the ocean ... find contentment in the life I'm living, not in the life I think I want ... be ready for change.
 
For all that and more, thank you, for playing your part.

Oh, and attached are smiles from Cristina's camera:

--Maitre-D :) on Dec 28, 2009




Share Your Own Story

If you have a Karma Kitchen story to share, please email us. We'd love to hear it, and spread the inspiration!