“Stargirl” is being told to us by Leo. Why did the author Jerry Spinelli choose Leo to be our spokesperson? What would the story be like if it was being told by Kevin, Leo’s best friend? Or by Hillari? Or by Stargirl herself?
In my work with adolescents I often tell them that every situation has a 360 degree perception about it. If you are able to see it from all perspectives, all around it, you would be seeing it from 360 degrees and understand it wholly. But that’s impossible, of course, despite people often believing they know the absolute truth about something. So I ask my students, “From how many degrees are you seeing this situation? What can you do to increase that number?”
In essence, that’s what I’m encouraging you to do now, and am doing so by asking you to consider the dark and light sides of the main characters, and to imagine what the story would be like if it was being told by another character.
About the Kind Action, I hope you have taken the time to complete an anonymous act of kindness using the congratulations card Stargirl created for an apparent stranger as inspiration, and I hope you put some serious thought into it. Kind acts involving some planning tend to be the most gratifying. When I’m planning a kindness act I find myself filling with an inner warmth that stays with me after I’ve completed the act. When I’m really aligned, I feel like I’m tapping into something greater than myself. Maybe you know what I mean. If you don’t, perhaps you’d be willing to put some time into trying to find out.
NEXT STEP: Assignment #2
Kind Living 