While scrolling through my Facebook feed, an inescapably recurrent habit, I came across a post titled, "Do Good Recklessly." The more I checked, the more openly I found the slogan plastered across the site as a result of a conversation on the recently deceased Tumblr amongst a band of merry strangers. God bless the Internet, honestly.
The premise of the post was people describing encounters they had experienced with others in need. Others who they couldn't help but overhear were in a bit of a difficult situation. Others to whom they were swift to offer their help, however it was they could. The biggest similarity across the tales that I read was the response of those on the outside looking in. "You definitely got scammed. There's no way that was a real thing. People do this all the time." Many arguments of that sort. These social media users gathered together to share these moments, the replies they received, and what it was they took away from everything they had heard.
The people I read about went on to say that when it came down to it, they couldn't say they cared all that much about whether or not they had been scammed. To them, the point of the gesture was not to receive accolades or show what wealth they had or further their own personal lives. They had helped because they had seen a need. The fact that the need could have been fake simply did not outweigh the good that would come if the need was indeed real.
Thus, "Do Good Recklessly" was born.
The purpose of the phrase "Do Good Recklessly" is to put the kindness and compassion of the world back into perspective. It certainly did so for me. As little as I am willing to admit it, when I do good, it is always with myself in the back of my mind. Perhaps to feel better about myself, perhaps to make others feel better about me, perhaps both. Who's to say? I utilize the misfortune of others in one way or another for my own personal gain, and in doing so, I stick to the safest routes of good deeds.
Why use a lot of funds when I can expend a few for show? Why go for the core of an issue when I can jab at the surface and stir a semi-smiling face? The thought to "Do Good" leaves itself open equally to interpretation and to belittlement.
The charge that the phrase "Do Good Recklessly" offers to the world is one of pure-blooded compassion. It brings the modern person, distracted as they are by the shining spotlights and thorny roses of the modern world, into focus on those around them. It is a reminder of others' stories. Others' lives. It is a note that they are counted as a life every bit as much as anyone else.
People scattered across the internet are clamoring to make "Do Good Recklessly" the slogan of the world. It won't be as simple as a couple screenshots from a website or a couple shares in different places, but it is a measure I want to consider.
The thing is, what it would take for this simple phrase to become the slogan of the world is not for it to be spread out all over the place. It would be for a person to take it to heart. It would be for even a fool like me to get it into my mind and take a risk. The goal is to be so reckless with good that for a moment, I forget I even exist. I forget about how this deed could affect me in the future. I forget to factor myself in and can only set my sights on someone else.
So, even before that perfect vision we're going to find in 2020 (see what I did there?), I want to start now. For me, good is scary because bad is easy. Time to change that. Buff up my mental state. Live hard. Love aggressively.
Do good recklessly.
