A Crafter's Life

Thinking About Kindness

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I’ve been thinking a lot about kindness lately and appreciate those moments of kindness I get to witness.

It seems I’ve been doing a ridiculous amount of travel lately within the U.S., and a couple weeks ago I witnessed kindness while sitting on an airplane.

Kindness on an Airplane

A man likely in his late 30s ended up sitting next to an elderly couple, perhaps in their 80s. The wife sat in the middle row and the husband sat on the aisle seat. The husband was VERY hard of hearing and his wife had to basically yell at him for him to hear anything that was said. The wife was very friendly and began engaging the man at the window seat in conversation. The husband wanted to be part of the conversation too so the wife had to yell into her husband’s ear any questions/responses/discussions so that her husband could feel part of the conversation.

I was sitting in the row behind these three thinking: “whew I am so glad I did not end up in that row”. All I could think is that I would have put my headphones on very quickly and stuck my nose in my book.

I thought the window seat man would grow weary from the convoluted conversation but instead he was warm and very engaged and when he asked the elderly man what he used to for a living before he retired, the husband lit up and began telling the younger man interesting stories from his previous work life. I could sense how much he appreciated being asked and being listened to even though he was so hard of hearing.

I was amazed at the kindness of the younger man in the window seat and the gift he gave the older man: the gift of respect, listening, and kindness.

Photo by Dan Gold on Pexels.com

Kindness in the Community

A week later I was walk my dog Mike through the park near my house and noticed a couple actively cleaning up the park with grabber devices and trash bags, which were very full. I walked over to them and thanked them for keeping our park clean. They responded: “We are retired and have the time, we feel the least we could do it keep our community clean”.

What kindness they showed to our community!

Kindness in the Neighborhood

That same day I returned home from my dog walk to find my partner John mowing the lawn of my next door neighbors who just had a baby. Usually the husband keeps his lawn looking lovely but he was very busy with working and the new baby. 

John not only mowed their lawn and their curb lawn area, but he also edged and trimmed the neighbors’ property, leaving it looking spectacular. They of course were most appreciative. 

It might have taken John and extra 30 minutes of lawn care time but I know he felt good after being so kind to the neighbors. Because kindness is rewarding to the receiver and the giver!

I keep looking out for opportunities to witness simple (or large) acts of kindness on a daily basis by my fellow humans; and I hope that no matter what I am going through in life I can demonstrate kindness on a daily basis.

In A World Where You Can Be Anything Be Kind | DIGITANZA Feel free in the comments below to share your musings on kindness or any recent acts of kindness you’ve witnessed.

Published by tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Quilter, crafter, obsessive tea drinker and lover of all furry creatures (especially dogs and cats) - join me on my tierneycreates blog as I share stories from "A Crafter's Life".

20 thoughts on “Thinking About Kindness”

  1. What a lovely blog post. It is so good to highlight kindness at any time but especially now when there are many very weary people out there who are fed up with what’s going on because of the pandemic (amongst other things). I have heard recently of people being very short with shop staff and with people in the service industry, being always in a hurry and not making the effort to be kind to others just by being plain courteous. I was always taught to treat others as I would wish to be treated. Hurrah for John, for that chap on the plane and for the couple clearing trash! And John, if you are ever nearby with a lawnmower, yes please my lawn is a little like a jungle right now!

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  2. It is wonderful to hear your experiences regarding kindness, especially now when it seems all we hear about is the not-so-nice actions of people.

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  3. What a lovely post. My partner Kevin began mowing our neighbors lawn when we moved into our house. He could not bear to watch him mowing his lawn holding an oxygen bottle. He is no longer twith us, but Kevin still takes care of the yard for his wife. I love hearing about acts of kindness.

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  4. I was the recipient of kindness this week. My neighbours had been having a party for their son’s birthday . They had some leftover homemade snacks from Sri Lanka and thought we might like to try them. They were lovely.

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  7. Love your observations! What a great reminder to look out for others showing kindness as well as opportunities to show it ourselves. It is as good a feeling to be kind to others as to have someone show kindness to us 🙂

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