“”Be the reason someone smiles. Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness in people.”
— Roy T. Bennett
Let’s open another gift, shall we?
Today, I offer the Simple Gifts of . . . KINDNESS and COMPASSION.
I know . . . these are gifts most of you already have. But I think we can never have too much kindness and compassion in our lives, y’know? For days, I’ve been trying to figure out what little tidbit of kindness, what little snippet of compassion I could “give” you. . . in a blog post. And then I remembered the movie Amélie!
Amélie . . . is a quirky little French film (with subtitles) that came out in 2001. And friends? It is an absolute delight! Just charming. The main character, Amélie, is a shy – but imaginative! – waitress who decides to change the lives of people around her for the better. It will make you laugh and smile and maybe even cheer a little. The movie holds up really well over time, too. So if you saw it decades ago, I’m going to bet you’ll love it all over again now. And if you never saw it? Oh, you are in for a treat! (And, yeah. I know. It’s in French. And I know many of you will say you can’t knit AND watch a movie with subtitles. Yada yada yada. Give it a try anyway! It’s worth it.)
Amélie is available to rent on most of the streaming services – and it might even be available for free here and there (it was hard to tell when I was looking it up, but maybe?).
Share in the delight of this movie!
We can always use a little more kindness and compassion!
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I’ll continue adding a few more Simple Gifts for you to open before the New Year, so stay tuned. (There is no schedule. The gifts will just . . . appear . . . from time to time.)
If you’d like to re-visit my blog-advent-calendars from 2023 and 2024, you can follow these links:
One of my favorite movies! John and I watched it a lot. A great suggestion for simple gifts. (I know I mention John frequently, but he is part of my DNA, so this is the only apology you will ever get. Roll your eyes, and live with it.) 😉
I don’t believe I have ever seen Amelie! I will find it this weekend and settle in with some knitting. Thank you!
Golly, I think this is a movie I THOUGHT I have watched, but when I see the preview, I haven’t. Might be a nice vacation this weekend. Thank you.
Sometimes it’s worthwhile to just pause the knitting for a bit. Also, REWIND works pretty good, too.
When I managed my mom’s antique mall in the ’90s, there were certain vendors who came in regularly and always seemed grumpy. I made it a mission to make them at least SMILE, if not LAUGH, before they walked back out the door. It made us both feel good!
I’ve never seen it, but since you have already anticipated my concern about subtitles I’ll give it a try this weekend! (Plus, I think I may be able to work on a Hitchhiker without looking at my knitting.)
Kym, you’ve touched a nerve when you suggested we see a movie via streaming. Just finished a Netflix film – a paid service – with commercials! Fewer than network, but still payment on top of payment. So I am so glad I saw Amelie the first time in a movie theatre. It was delightful. But I don’t feel like paying for it all over again. However, if you are so-inclined, it is certainly worth a first or second look. (The leading lady reminded me of Audrey Hepburn. I think she is also named Audrey.) (Also, with the death of Jo-Ann, I am so glad I bought all those dozens of Clover knitting needles over the past two decades. Michael’s is virtually needle-free and Amazon can take time. Hmm…Guess I sound like an old lady. Which I am.)
I love that movie! I own it on DVD (though where it is, I’m not sure) and have watched it many times, though not recently. I’ve been considering watching it with Molly, but it has some rather, um, adult content. There was a time when I could understand a fair amount of the French. I can tell you that there’s a translation error in the subtitles — when she’s on the phone with Nino, being all mysterious, and tells him to look at page 60-something, the subtitles say “Page St.”!
This looks perfect! Thanks Kym (I think it’s on Netflix..or Amazon for $3.99). But, tonight Fletch wants to watch the latest Knives Out (we were going to watch last night, but I was too tired for a 2+ hour movie!
Yes yes yes to more kindness and compassion. I just read an IG post by Cory Booker about a kindness done by a librarian that turned around a life. Even letting a car into traffic on a busy street can brighten a day – at least I hope so.
Jane is so right! We may never create a polio vaccine or write War and Peace but we may help someone’s life by a tiny act of encouragement, friendliness or sympathetic comment. Sort of the “It’s a Wonderful Life” effect. (A little preachy, maybe, but makes a good point:).
I haven’t seen this movie since it was brand new. It’s available from several libraries in my network, too. Thanks for the reminder about this film.
I know I’ve watched the movie before, but can’t remember it, so it may be time to revisit. I’ve been listening to your cup of kindness Spotify playlist again for the last couple days. Lovely! (Thank you for creating your playlist for our enjoyment!)