I was suffering from a bit of the mid-morning-Internet-stupor blahs when I came across this astounding aerial photo from NASA. Here is India, celebrating Diwali, the festival of lights. According to Wikipedia, Diwali involves the lighting of small clay lamps filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil. (So, it's Hanukkah with a different lighting technique and curry instead of latkes? Sign me up.)

But to me this photograph is also a lesson in how a small gesture can make a big impact when seen from afar. A person lights a lamp, shares a sweet. Helping a neighbor with her groceries, paying a stranger's parking meter, sharing kind words on the street or across the Internet. These little things we do, small kindness we can choose to create (or, alternately, tiny seeds of bad feeling we can spew when we snap at a waiter, scowl at a coworker)-- they seem to be such insignificant moments. It's when we take step back that we see the cumulative effects. Look around you--everyone is a little light. Imagine how beautiful we are from the sky.

More:
Tiny tweaks that can change your life
Adventures in Kindness: Be Excellent to Each Other
What Oprah knows about small gestures with big impacts