Well done, FNX. Huzzah, Ting Tings. Congratulations, Boston.

It never ceases to amaze me the way people are so willing to help when they are presented with the opportunity to do some good for their community. The RFAR food drive at Church offered an all-too-rare glimpse at pure kindness – adorned with a scenester sheen.

What do I mean? People who couldn’t get into the show still handed over bags of canned food items, asking that it be dropped off at the food drive within. People who had forgotten their food donations on the counters at home handed over money to donate to the cause. Individuals said, “I want to help,” inquiring about how they could go about donating food or services. People thanked us for what we were doing and wished us luck with the endeavor.

I live in a city, a place where there is a tendency to hop onto the T, jam in the earbuds and ignore fellow residents while reading a book. I do it myself, almost every single day. But today I was keeping my eyes open for the moments of kindness and found them jumping out of me every which way: the man who held the door to the T station because I was clearly trying to juggle a roll of banners, a bag and a coffee; the people who smiled when they saw the small mountain of canned items we were showing off; those who greeted me with hugs and “WHAT THE HELL”s when I prepared to end my shorter-than-usual post-doing-good-for-humanity trip to my favorite Wednesday night watering hole.

It’s easy to feel isolated, lonely, lost. I felt that way just a few days ago, in fact, and found that feeling difficult to shake.

But it’s also so easy to open one’s eyes and feel incredibly connected. And that’s how I feel right now.

On behalf of those we all helped out tonight, but also speaking for myself, thank you for that.