Bernie Yancey-Simon telling residents ‘I love you’
In today’s world the little things mean a lot. Just ask Williamstown’s own Bernie Yancey-Simon, who is trying to spread the practice of love by handing out love cards.
“I would like to promote love, the concept of love and also the practice of love,” Yancey-Simon said. “So that we have a better understanding as citizens and humanity that we are all basically the same.”
What is a love card, one might ask. A love card is roughly the size of a business card with a pattern on the front side — hearts or colorful circles — with the words “I Love You” emblazoned in the foreground in white print.
“When I saw the ‘I love you’ on the card I thought of the concept of love and the practice of love,” she explained. “Even if it might seem small or irrelevant, there’s so much need for it [practicing love]. We don’t realize it until we actually practice it with one another and see how it affects other people in a positive way.”
Like most start-ups, Yancey-Simon acknowledged that she should start small. She began handing out her love cards to fellow parishioners at the Our Lady of Peace Parish in Williamstown before beginning to branch out to stores that she frequents.
Part of the reason Yancey-Simon wanted to start handing out love cards is due to the sometimes chaotic environment we live in today. She wants to recognize those who do good, even if it’s not the cool thing to do.
“All good people in today’s world are amazing because it’s hard to hold on to that in a world of chaos,” she said. “It makes us vulnerable when we’re good-hearted, kind and accepting to others. To me, it’s still the best way, it’s basic humanity to be kind.
“I think there are more good people in the world than bad. I believe goodness prevails.”
On the back of her cards are three handwritten sayings to help those promote the practice of love. They are “Practicing love,” “Teaching tolerance,” “Fighting hate” and “Seeking justice.”
“I wrote ‘practicing love’ because I think for the most part we say the word love and think it’s enough but we don’t think about the relationship of the word love and how we’re treating others,” she said. “To me, teaching tolerance means just because someone’s different it doesn’t mean they should be our enemy. We should be able to listen to people and understand their experience in life.
“We as individuals should not stand by and let other people be mistreated and be abused because it isn’t happening to us,” she said of the phrase “fighting hate.” “Hate is devastating and hate doesn’t have limits.
“We have systems in place in this country that were supposedly developed to protect people from injustices, and we have to stand up to those systems if they are allowing people to be abused and mistreated,” she said of the final phrase on her love card.
The message behind Yancey-Simon’s love card is simple and can be summed up with an adage that’s as old as time: “treat others how you would want to be treated.” It might sound simple, but this is the jumping off point for Yancey-Simon.
“Sometimes our differences make us better human beings because we can learn from them, that’s why it’s important to think of each other in a loving, more acceptable way,” she said.
Right now, it’s only Ms. Bernie handing out the love cards. So if you are at a store and she asks to give you a love card, know that she doesn’t want anything in return, just pass on love to another person.
“I’m just asking them to pass on something good to the next person, to treat each other fairly, with respect and dignity. That’s all,” she said.
