Vickey Weiss Photography

08/22/2026

✨🌸🩷✨
I had the coolest experience at the community garden tonight and I can’t stop thinking about it.

My friend and garden neighbor Naomi was there, which makes this whole thing even more special. naomi is actually the reason I joined Growing Kindness™ Movement Nonprofit . I saw her posting about it several years ago and loved the idea of growing flowers specifically to give away. I applied the following year, and I’ve learned so much from her since. She’s shared seeds and tubers with me and has always been so generous with her knowledge.

We were standing there talking tonight when a woman approached us and asked if there was any chance she could have some flowers.

She told us she had recently lost her job and was going through a really difficult situation with her son, who is struggling with his mental health and is now getting help. She wanted to bring him some flowers so he would know she was thinking about him, but she didn’t have money to buy any. She came to the community garden hoping she might find someone willing to share.

I told her, “This is exactly why we grow these flowers.”

I had clippers with me, so Naomi and I started cutting flowers from both of our gardens and filled a cup for her.

She was so incredibly grateful. Before she left she said, “I don’t even know you, but I want to hug you,” and gave me a big hug. She thanked us again and said she would pay the kindness forward.

I just keep thinking about the timing of it all. This woman came to the garden hoping to find someone who might give her a few flowers, and she happened to find Naomi, the person who introduced me to Growing Kindness, and me.

And we got to do it together.

It felt so full circle and like we were all there at exactly the right time. This is exactly why I grow flowers. ❤️

Something Naomi said tonight …
Just a little reminder to always be kind—we never know what people are going through.

xo

04/20/2026

https://go.shopmy.us/p-49013346

04/10/2026

01/30/2026

Some late-night thoughts I can’t shake tonight.

My heart hurts…

I’m honestly flabbergasted by how many people can be so blindly loyal to such a cruel ideology and preach it publicly without shame.
History will not look kindly on this.
I know that to be true.

What’s been especially painful is realizing how many people I once thought were good are willing to laugh, dismiss, or double down when confronted with real harm. Watching people respond with 😆 to violence or injustice is genuinely disheartening.

And yet, at the same time, I’ve also seen the opposite. Amazing new people and old childhood friends have come into my life. Community has shown up. Strangers have rallied, protected each other, and chosen empathy when it would be easier not to.
That part matters.

None of this needs to be happening.
The cruelty. The fear. The dystopian normalizing of harm. It continues because too many people look away, stay comfortable, or refuse accountability.

If you’re not paying attention yet, now is the time. Silence and neutrality aren’t harmless. They’re choices. And the more of us who speak up, the harder it becomes to pretend this is normal or acceptable.

This isn’t politics. This is right versus wrong. If it makes people uncomfortable, so be it. We should be talking about this every day. People need to pay attention.

01/11/2026

Rest in Peace

01/01/2026

A Thought Going Into the New Year

Lately I’ve been feeling genuinely concerned, not just about current events, but about how easily fear and suspicion are being normalized.

What I’m seeing more and more is old cases, old headlines, and already prosecuted crimes being recycled and presented as if they’re new discoveries. They’re often paired with viral videos, outrage language, and broad claims that quietly shift attention away from specific actions and toward entire communities.

That matters, because accountability is supposed to be precise. It’s about evidence, due process, and holding individuals responsible for specific wrongdoing. When accountability turns into permanent suspicion of the same groups of people, it stops being about justice and starts becoming something else.

What also concerns me is how selective this outrage has become. We see intense anger directed downward, toward immigrants and marginalized communities, while widespread grift and corruption at the very top is excused, ignored, or even rewarded through pardons and political loyalty. Accountability that only applies to some people isn’t accountability at all.

What worries me most is how effective this kind of messaging is. When fear-based narratives are repeated often enough, they stop sounding extreme and start sounding normal. That’s how xenophobia and racism become socially acceptable again, not through slurs, but through “concern,” “just asking questions,” and selective outrage.

I believe fraud should always be investigated and prosecuted, no matter who commits it. I also believe we should be asking why certain stories are being amplified right now, who benefits from the outrage, and what happens when whole communities are treated as perpetually suspect while powerful people face no consequences.

As we head into a new year, I hope we can choose less division, less judgment, and more care in how we talk about each other.

Small reminders that kindness, diversity, and care are still worth choosing.