Doing good things even during normal times
A friend taught me a new phrase in Spanish. It goes like this: Haz el bien sin mirar a quien.
It roughly translates to do good without seeing who is benefitting. I love it and I’ve been seeing a lot of that in practice since the beginning of the pandemic.
I saw it three years ago when a friend named Sarita posted on her Facebook account that she would make free face masks for anyone who needed them in the community. Hundreds of requests later, she was busy cutting and sewing, sending them out across our region, and trying to meet a desperate and unexpected need.
Sarita didn’t know whose faces would end up wearing them. She was practicing Haz el bien sin mirar a quien.
I saw it when a community member starting a Facebook Group for anyone to post the needs of individuals or families. People quickly joined and answered the call. Within 24 hours, toilet paper and food were being delivered to strangers’ homes. People were doing good without knowing who was benefitting.
I saw it once at a migrant center where people came together to provide blankets and coffee to families who were sleeping on the streets, waiting for a door to open, for someone to let them in. The volunteers never knew the names of those waiting or where they would end up.
The stories go on and on. During the pandemic and other times of crisis, regular people and big corporations get on the same page on this notion: Haz el bien sin mirar a quien.
When times get tough, we are reminded of ideals taught to us by our ancestors, who for the most part, had it tougher than we did. The sacrifice which fell upon them through job losses, food rationing, or the call to war, created sayings, or dichos, such as: Haz el bien sin mirar a quien.
It’s a saying that invokes selflessness. Good deeds are done better when they are done anonymously. Somehow it means more to the person that benefits from your generosity. It means more to the giver too.
Other cultures have similar sayings, also born out of difficult circumstances. Save one save the world. It’s a Jewish concept practiced heroically by the likes of Oscar Schindler.
Times of sacrifice do much in bringing the good out of us. We have little but we give plenty. We forget our own needs and look to the needs of others. Our worldly possessions seem insignificant. They are replaced with moments and occasions we suddenly find more valuable.
In all of us is a yearning to shake a hand and give a hug. In many of us, there is a desire for more. For some reason, we keep it hidden, in a secret place, waiting to bring it out at the right moment.
If living through the pandemic taught us anything, is that it’s okay to be the people we became, not just then, but always. So, let’s keep being those people even if there isn’t an official pandemic, war, or national crisis at the moment.
There is never a wrong time to practice my new favorite saying: Haz el bien sin mirar a quien.
Abe Villarreal writes about the traditions, people, and culture of America. He can be reached at abevillarreal@hotmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Doing good things even during normal times
