Kindness Reminders

Today marks day 253 that Kirk Sinclair and his wife, Cindy, have been trekking across the USA to bring attention to the problems of housing, health, and hunger. The Sinclairs are certainly not alone in their strong commitment to help others by crossing the states, bringing publicity to the kindness cause. I've posted similar stories within the past few months about long distance travel by car - the American Bear project, by foot - Walk4Good, and even by cab - the Kindness Cab, all recording epic travel adventures in their blogs for great causes regardless of the mode of transportation.

This story may have moved me because I'm on day 5 of a fasting cleanse and the idea of eating a muffin is my greatest desire at the moment. Or maybe because it's about 3 retired men who are using their golden years to create a kinder world. Probably both.

I found this video on Storytellers for Good, a platform for telling human-interest stories that inspire. Three men, Frank, John, and Jack taking retirement and kindness to a new level. You're gonna love these guys!

THE MUFFIN MEN from Storytellers For Good on Vimeo.

I read about Make It Do in The Daily GOOD newsletter a few days ago. The article was about a 2012 resolution that Meg Hourihan created in which she has promised not to buy anything unless she has worn it out or used it up. Meg not only decided to do this for 2012, but she is sharing her purchases on her website to hold herself accountable by justifying every investment to the reader. Her goal is to reduce a pattern of over-consumption.

This past week, I read a couple of stories about family members continuing their deceased loved ones legacy of kindness. Coping with grief that comes when a dear one dies seems unbearable. But these two families began the process of healing with organizations created to remember the kind hearts of those they have lost.

Drew Stevens lost his 12-year-old son, Josh, in a tragic golf cart accident in 2008. He honors him today by launching the Be Kind movement aimed at school age children as a tribute to his son who was known for his kindness. The movement works with schools to create activities and reward those they "catch" being kind.

I introduced Patience (a.k.a. Kindnessgirl) to the Kindness Community blog in November of 2009. Since then she has landed an important gig as a kindness contributor for the Huffington Post and has been featured in Oprah's O magazine. (Proof in my eyes that the kindness movement is widespread and growing in popularity!) In yesterday's Huffington article, she wrote about a kindness mission inspiring a wave of garbage gratitude for our collectors. Trying to rally support for the most thankless job in america, she suggest we write a note of thanks to our garbage collectors with a gift card from the local coffee shop or gas station and attach it to our cans. I've actually given my waste management collectors baked goods for a Christmas gift and you should have seen the look of surprise on their faces! These guys work hard and are rarely given the thanks they deserve.

I have an update on the American Bear Project I posted earlier this month on the Kindness Community blog. Thanks to donations accumulated through the Kickstarter funding program, Sarah and Greg's documentary about the kindness of strangers has been fully funded.

Ryan Garcia is asking for kindness suggestions to help him complete his New Year's resolution for 2012 — 366 random acts of kindness. I watched Ryan's story on the news yesterday where he explained that the inspiration for his decision was the birth of his daughter for whom he wishes to set a good example. Personally, I think all new parents become more aware of the kindness climate once they become responsible for raising a child (that was my motivator to create String-Ring). Worried that his goal to complete a random act of kindness each day this year might become a little more challenging as the months go by, he is asking for acts of kindness suggestions.

Micro-funding gives a low-income individual who has no access to typical banking services an opportunity to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. Because most banks consider the poor to be too "high-risk" you can become a microcredit investor with a very small sum of money. There are many micro-lending campaigns available, as a lender the one I've had the most success with is KIVA. I joined a Kiva lending group last year, and was very happy to reissue my initial loan to another individual last week. This lending organization accepts loans as little as $25 and as that loan gets repaid you can repeat the process with a new borrower using your refunded loan. It feels good to be a microlender knowing that my small loan can continue to help over and over! A tiny amount of money to us means a lot in a third world country.

I found this video on The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation website that shares the work of Dr. Dacher Keltner, Berkeley professor and faculty director at The Greater Good Science Center. Dr. Dacher believes that humans are born to be good and has spent his life studying the emotions that make life meaningful. I found some great resources on the GGSC to help get me out of this post-holiday funk. Anyone else get those overconsumption/materialism hangovers?

A group of family and friends from Minnesota wish to "Warm the World in 31 Days". Concerned with too much political, religious, and economic divisiveness in our society, The Kindness Challenge was created to raise awareness of our human similarities instead of our differences. By emphasizing kindness, this month-long event that started January 1, 2012, hopes to bring the focus to unity in this new year, and lesson the attention different polarizing belief systems have had in our relationships. Why 31 days? According to experts, this is about how long it takes to form a new habit. Are you up for the challenge?

Simply commit your kind act and log it here. You can share more of your story and add photos by following the link on the Log page.