This gorgeous soft mandala comes rom Amy (@myweekincrochet on Instagram) who writes, “If only one person gets help from this effort overall – it’s worth it.” This statement means so, so much to me and is so, so true. Thank you to each person who has made the Mandalas for Marinke project happen!
Amy’s statement reminded me of the starfish story that I first learned about when I was overwhelmed by the work I was doing with kids in need as well as inmates across the country. In case you don’t know it, or just could use a reminder, here it is … (This version from All Creatures …)
“One day an old man was walking along the beach. It was low tide, and the sand was littered with thousands of stranded starfish that the water had carried in and then left behind.
The man began walking very carefully so as not to step on any of the beautiful creatures. Since the animals still seemed to be alive, he considered picking some of them up and putting them back in the water, where they could resume their lives.
The man knew the starfish would die if left on the beach’s dry sand but he reasoned that he could not possibly help them all, so he chose to do nothing and continued walking.
Soon afterward, the man came upon a small child on the beach who was frantically throwing one starfish after another back into the sea. The old man stopped and asked the child, “What are you doing?”
“I’m saving the starfish,” the child replied.
“Why waste your time?… There are so many you can’t save them all so what does is matter?” argued the man.
Without hesitation, the child picked up another starfish and tossed the starfish back into the water… “It matters to this one,” the child explained.”
What a beautiful story, Kathryn! Very thought-provoking.
Your work is doing such an amazing job at raising awareness of this important issue.
Best wishes
Eleanor x