There are a variety of Starfish Project organizations and initiatives out there. My Starfish Project was born out of necessity…a personal necessity that I felt was critical during a time of severe well-being uncertainty, intense tribal divisiveness, and an escalating disconnection between the human race, all around the world.
Our innate pack mentality, which had evolved over millions of years, started showing clear signs of disheartening deterioration. Technological advancements, which were created to provide more efficiencies and cost-savings, also created a work culture that no longer needed as many human beings to contribute to the workflow process, or to physically interact to operate many of our everyday actions.
That same growing technology has also fostered an environment that intoxicated people to not only disconnect from each other, but also become more addicted to electronic devices and being “wired in” 24/7. Hence, a “Lone Wolf” mindset has developed at an alarming rate and has driven deeper wedges even between immediate family members within the same households.
And the final provocation, the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back for me, was when we were hit with a Global Pandemic in 2020. Within weeks, the lethal infectious virus spread to every corner of the globe and sparked a worldwide panic. It instigated a “survival-of-the-fittest” frame of mind, and also a level of “every man/woman for themselves” psychology. Then, while the pandemic was at its height in the U.S., and we were simply trying to stay safe and healthy, the country broke out into civil unrest, even violent riots, to protest racial inequality that had reached a boiling point. It was an extremely terrifying sight to behold. I had to find a way to engage and contribute in any way I can.
That was the moment I started recounting the well-known and celebrated parable, “The Star Thrower,” written by Loren Eiseley back in 1969 (the year I was born) and is also known as “The Starfish Story.” The definition of a parable is a simple story with a moral, or to teach a lesson. And the most important message derived from “The Star Thrower” parable was that we could all make a difference in the world, by just doing One Small Thing at a time. No matter what it is. As long it is a selfless act to help out another person, a random (or not so random) act of kindness, then it can be transformational to the recipient and aid in the optimistic effort to connect people more.
That story always provided great inspiration ever since I first learned of it years ago, and still gives me chills every time I read it. But I never really knew how best to implement its primary lesson. I felt I needed to initiate some plan of action but was also struggling with the feeling of being overwhelmed that it needed to be some colossal endeavor.
Until one morning, which happened to be my dog’s birthday. I was running with her on the beach as the sun was rising, and we were pretty much the only ones there, as far as I can see. For some reason, she started pulling me in a direction that was in the complete opposite direction of where I was running. She was fully fixated on some object way over in the distance. So, I followed her lead, and when we got to her intended destination, I looked down in the sand and staring up at me I found a small red plastic child’s beach toy…a Starfish!!!
Then, in less than a year, on other random occasions, I practically tripped over another 3 various starfish toys that I came across on different beaches in NC and FL. And lastly (and this one really blew my mind), a large wrought iron starfish somehow appeared in a part of my front yard that I have walked by hundreds of times before. See pictures of all of them on this page. It was like some spirit guide placed them there for me to find and provide that “A-Ha” moment as a sign that I not only NEED to move forward with this initiative, without hesitation or trepidation, but also instilled the confidence that it CAN succeed…one small step at a time.
Now the journey has begun…I hope you will join me on it.
Gratefully,
Michael Kalil