Kindness

Actively Seeking Joy as a Patriotic Habit

A Refreshing Dose of Friendship Intimacy

I had a refreshingly intimate conversation with a woman who was born in the Middle East and is now raising her family in the United States. While we’ve spoken…

Refusing to Grow Up has Benefits

When I was growing up, I thought that adults were smart, knew a lot, and generally were rather competent. I thought they had life kind of figured out, at least most of them. Now I know better: I’ll never really grow up and in many ways won’t deviate much from my childhood…

Meeting the World with Open Arms: Amanda Palmer and Sarah Kay

I’ve been reading Amanda Palmer’s The Art of Asking. I am a Unitarian Universalist, and much of what she says about her view on the world reminds me of some of the meditations I have during UU services. There is a focus on…

In Praise of Heart

Since moving from North Carolina to the New York area, I’ve noticed a meanness from the people around me. Maybe I’m just encountering the wrong people, but the proximity to New York City seems to bring out some of the selfishness of people advocating for themselves rather than for the team…

The Kindness of Giving the Benefit of the Doubt

I ride the train as part of my commute each day. One day this week I got on and managed to snag a seat while a lot of people had to stand in the aisle as seats filled up. A teen girl, maybe around 13, tried to go past a couple women standing just…

Expressing Thanks

When I was in undergrad, I worked for a woman cleaning her house a few hours every week. While I worked for her, we formed a positive relationship, one that continues today even though I no longer clean her house. She was a great example for me of a great boss, and one of the things that she did…