The Kindness Impulse – An Uplifting Story There are no strangers here Just friends you haven’t yet met. … William Butler Yeats We are born with an innate tendency to connect with others. Larry calls it the kindness impulse. In our culture today, many people feel disconnected from each other, even at work and in their apartment building or neighborhood. Most of us are able to create connections […]
Changing to a Culture of Kindness The secret to change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new. ~ […]
Compassion is the heart of Kindness Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive. […]
Courage Empowers Our Kindness Journey Courage takes you out of your comfort zone and into your power center […]
Embrace Curiosity on Your Kindness Journey If you understand each other, you will be kind to each other. […]
We’re All Connected in the Web of Life We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness. […]
Commitment to Kindness Becomes a Way of Life The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit. […]
The Power of the Stories We Tell Ourselves I believe we come to a new story […]
The Many Languages of Love All the people you haven’t told you love lately, tell them and live your days like you mean it. Hal Sutton There are many ways that we can express kindness in our relationships. Gary Chapman is an American pastor and relationship counselor. In his book, “The 5 Love […]
That Could Be Me I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it. Maya Angelou During the last few months, in our community and around the country, the homeless population has grown dramatically. As a result, more and more people are using online platforms […]
Happiness and Kindness Dance Together Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more. Jackson Brown, Jr A few weeks ago, a contagiously happy woman came bubbling into our life, and we want you to meet her. Kelli Pease hosts […]
Love or Fear – We All Have a Choice Love allows us to flow together toward a shared future. Adrienne Maree Brown As we greet the new year, we have an opportunity for a new beginning. We can let go of whatever disappointments or fear that we have been feeling and choose how we will meet the months ahead. As I listened once again to a song that has […]
Seeing Beauty Everywhere Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. Confucius At this time of year, we pause our daily routines for celebration and remembrance of the deeper meaning of our lives. We decorate our homes and play seasonal music, creating an atmosphere of joy and beauty. As we go out in the world around us, we see the results of the efforts of others to celebrate […]
The Life-Changing Power of Gratitude When we focus on our gratitude, the tide of disappointment goes out, and the tide of love rushes in. Kristin Armstrong As we approach Thanksgiving in the United States, I wanted to write about gratitude. As often happens, synchronicity brought a new video to my attention. In her TED Talk, Hailey Bartholomew describes her journey from feeling emotionally disconnected from her […]
America – Who Are We? The measure of a country’s greatness is its ability to retain compassion in time of crisis. Thurgood Marshall Recently, I watched a video of Neil Diamond singing his powerful song, “America,” remembering the uplift it used to give me. This time was different. I was overwhelmed by sadness. It bubbled up from […]
How Do You Want to Show Up in the World? “A vision is not just a picture of what could be; it is an appeal to our better selves, a call to become something more” … Rosabeth Moss Kanter As we observe and participate in our world today, sometimes we wonder how we got to this point of division. But when we stop to consider the larger picture, we […]
A Man of Peace A Tribute to Balbir Singh Sodhi This may be the world’s only hope for peace: that all of us, brothers and sisters and strangers alike, understand we meet as guests together in ‘God’s own tent.’ […]
Kindness Makes Us Happier “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” Dalai Lama I had an experience this week that expanded my appreciation of the power of a simple act of kindness. Part of my journey has been to look for opportunities to say a few words of kindness to strangers – not just in person, but […]
Kindness Spotlight on Orly Wahba Kindness Boomerang In the stormy seas of life, kindness, like a life vest, keeps the world afloat. As a middle school teacher, Orly wanted to help her students experience the joy of kindness. She developed a set of kindness cards and handed them out to inspire her students to perform acts of kindness in their own lives. As she saw the positive […]
Is Peace Possible in Today’s World? Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe A song was a part of my growing up years, and it became a part of who I am. It invites us to contribute to the creation of peace in the world. This can seem overwhelming if we think about how insignificant we each are amidst […]
Spotlight on Kindness – Sheriff Bob Fletcher “I shall pass this way but once. Any good that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being, let me do it now.” ~ Etienne de Grellet We hear so much about law enforcement officers who abuse their power, and many people have concluded that all cops need to be restrained. We hear less about the […]
Planting Seeds The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit. Nelson Henderson We believe that living with kindness transforms the world – not all at once and not by ourselves alone – but bit-by-bit, day-by-day, through acts of kindness powered by love. Sometimes we see a positive effect from a smile, […]
We Are the World, We Are the Children There comes a time when we heed a certain call when the world must come together as one. Michael Jackson In a journey down Memory Lane this morning, we were led to revisit an old favorite of ours – a song that speaks to us of the present time, just as clearly as it spoke of our world 36 years […]
Kindness Comes from Hearing Each Other At the end of the day, you need someone who listens to you with no judgement. Payal Rohatgi I have read a lot about the importance of storytelling lately – the power it has to open doors for understanding between people whose life paths have been different. I see great value in learning about someone else’s story as a powerful way […]
Kindness is a Path, Not an Event Nothing can make our life, or the lives of other people, more beautiful than perpetual kindness … Leo Tolstoy Every morning, as Larry and I enjoy our coffee and tea, we talk about whatever is on our minds and hearts – a dream from the night before, something we read […]
The Power of Small Acts of Kindness Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love. … Mother Teresa Kindness is the way we spread love in the world. It feels good – in the giving and receiving. The more we experience kindness, the more we connect with others and reinforce the awareness of our kinship. That is […]
When Does Kindness Require Us to Act? The opposite for courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow. Jim Hightower Living with kindness is a way of being in the world that is rewarding and uplifts our spirits. As we offer a smile and kind words, others respond favorably. When we reach out to help someone in need, everyone involved […]
How Love and Healing Arose from the Tragedy of Sandy Hook Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all. – Aristotle On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza entered Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut […]
