“You caught me a little off guard,” I am told in approaching today’s friend, “Hat,” who in respect for privacy of her family has requested that I keep her identity unknown.

And in offbeat way, Hat is not talking about being uncomfortable by my approaching her, but rather, due to what I can identify as a kind of a role reversal in my reach out to her.

“I’ve been here all day and you are the first person who has started a conversation with me,” Hat brings me up to speed.

I have to say, I am a little shocked, seeing that she has been stationed for over ten hours outside of our meeting place at the front of a local healthy eatery.

Her message is the direct opposite of intimidating and is worthy of conversation with its initiatives supported by the global footprint of a very contemporary environmental non-profit. One of which, I again, do not reveal in honoring Hat’s request for privacy.

So to hear that after a long day of outputting her commitment to community kindness, an energy that first drew me towards her, I am surprised to find out that I am the first to open conversation with her.

Hat is dedicated to bettering the planet, both on the level of environmentalism and in focus towards uniting cultures.

“I’ve been approaching people for years trying to get our word out and have talked to a lot of people. It’s very interesting to see how different groups in different regions act.” Hat summarizes as she forwards her basic findings of “We all need to work on engaging in the kindness of the small gesture, it opens hearts.”

And exactly how do we do that…? Per the suggestion of Hat, “By listening.”

“The wall of apathy is disturbing.” A point of view that Hat has earned the credentials to own through her years of approaching strangers in forwarding her works.

“I’ve spoken with the rich and the poor, all religions, races and sexes; its been the coolest thing speaking out for something that I am passionate about, and I have learned a lot about myself and about society.”

However, Hat charges us to do more than merely pass on the smile, she directs us to engage in bettering our outlook, “We have to be courageous enough to talk about things of significance.”

For many of us, a very frightening proposition, I’m sure. But a proposition that, as Hat has demonstrated, the more we practice the easier it gets.

Hat leaves us with this, “We need to be brave.”