Friday, March 14, 2014

On Kindness


kind·ness
ˈkīn(d)nis/
noun
1.
the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.


I was thinking today about kindness. About how it is becoming, sadly, almost an artifact of a gentler time. We are all too busy and self-consumed to radiate "friendliness, generosity, and consideration", aren't we? Our mobile devices keep our heads down, and our minds ever occupied, so that we fail to observe where little acts of kindness are needed in the world around us. I find myself almost taken aback when touched by kindness' sweet fingers. It is usually a very simple gesture - sometimes not even an act at all - but a thought... It isn't hard. Just intentional.

Kindness seems to posses the ability to bypass external emotions and societal walls, and slip cozily around your heart like a hug. Know what I mean? The genuine article never, ever provokes suspicion. I admire people who own kindness as an extension of who they are. Those people are like a soft place to land, and being around them is tangible comfort and calm. 

I married one of those people. I'm so grateful to share a life with him.

As Albus Dumbledore put it, kindness is a trait that "people never fail to undervalue...". Perhaps this is why it is dying a slow death?

How can we revive it? How can we practice kindness? How can we value it?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

1 comment:

  1. Handwritten notes. Giving credit where credit is due. Saying hello with a smile. Sending Thank You cards. Calling a friend you haven't spoken to in a while. :)

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