Filling the cracks with gold

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, May 19, 2026

When the world feels fractured, the smallest acts of kindness may be the gold that binds us back together.

The world continues to break apart with terrible news: Epstein, war, climate change and other disasters. It keeps rolling in. It can be tempting to succumb to a kind of overwhelm — and ask whether what we do even matters when the fault lines running through our systems seem so immense.

Thinking small rather than significant

Like many people, I have a bent toward significance — wanting my actions to impact the world in some large, visible way.

Significance is seductive. It keeps us focused on what is recognized by others, or produces a notable change in the world. But that focus can distract us from the small, simple, often private ways we can contribute — the opportunities that are all around us.

For even though they may be modest, small acts of goodness are the glue that holds us together — like the gold kintsugi threads the Japanese use to restore a broken cup to wholeness.

They remind us that we matter.

Mattering

Jennifer Wallace, who wrote a book on mattering, considers it a pillar of our well-being. She defines it simply: Feeling Valued plus Adding Value. We all need to feel like we matter. While there’s nothing wrong with pursuing happiness, there’s often a richer and more sustaining feeling that comes from contributing to another being — especially when that contribution is needed and received. It may not be too big a claim to say that the state of the world hinges on people realizing that they matter — and doing things that matter, especially for others.

And we can practice mattering in the smallest and simplest of ways.

What’s in a name

In the senior fitness class I attend at the Vashon Athletic Club, I love learning people’s names. When I ask the woman in the back row her name — while apologizing that I will probably forget and have to ask again — something shifts.

Class becomes more than exercise, which my body appreciates. It becomes community-building, which my soul thrives on. I also like to know the names of the people who serve me. If I can read the slightly worn name tag on a retail clerk, I’ll use it. Because, as we know, the people who work retail or service jobs on Vashon are fantastic. And most of them have interesting stories to share.

I may never know that story. But I want to treat people as if they have one — and that it matters.

Tracking the small

The list of small contributions we might feel called to make is endless: smiling at a stranger, thanking a bus driver, offering a ride because you know someone is stranded, asking how someone is doing, cooking food for a friend, sending a card or thoughtful email, extending help in the way you can, offering a donation or giving a hug.

The list goes on.

Recently, I helped a friend move, after she’d been laid off during the kind of massive downsizing that tears apart people’s lives. And right after the layoff, she was diagnosed with cancer. I couldn’t fix her situation, but I could do one small thing: help her pack. Not because I’m a saint, but because it felt like mine to do. It was hard work — and a kind of gift — because I knew, without question, that what I was doing mattered.

Simple deeds that heal

Through our small deeds and contributions, we can help restore what is holy and whole — even when it feels as if the world is being torn apart.

Because as damaging as powerful people may sometimes be, they cannot destroy the goodness we carry — or the truth that we matter. Each one of us. So have fun doing some small act of goodness this week, whatever calls you. Together, we can thread gold through the cracks in our world.

Sally Jean Fox, Ph.D., is an author, artist and coach. You can find more of her writings on Substack at Sally Jean Fox: Embracing the Muse.