Tear-Off Kindness

A while back I wrote a piece called COMPLIMENT KINDNESS, which you can see here.

It was about a project I did where I hung tear off strips of compliments in my neighborhood, which went over really well.

Today I am sad yet again at the state of our country.  More gun deaths – this time in Minneapolis and Baton Rouge.  It seems never ending, and it is hard to feel hope of things ever getting better.  I applaud people who are standing up and speaking out.

In the spirit of maybe making society a teeny tiny bit better, I have hung out a new sheet of tear off strips.  This one is called “Make the World a Better Place” and it has 19 little tear off strips that passersby are encouraged to choose from and then act upon.  The sheet looks like this:

  

Quick ways YOU (yes you) can make the world a better place.  Take 1 and USE IT.

Call your mom or dad and tell them you love them

Carry a stranger’s groceries to their car

Send someone a real card or letter, not an email

Give a flower from your garden to a neighbor

Pay for the person behind you at the coffee shop

Give someone a genuine compliment

Pick up trash that someone else left

Smile at people as you ride the escalator

Leave a quarter in the “have a penny take a penny” jar

Tell a kid how great he or she is (and mean it)

Let someone ahead of you in line

Bring cookies to work for sharing

Share produce from your garden

Post something NICE on Facebook or Instagram

Stop by the fire station and say THANKS  

 Buy stuff at a garage sale and say “Keep the change”

Send a letter to a former teacher thanking them

Give a granola bar to a homeless person

Take back someone else’s grocery cart for them

Look, I know that these simple little things that I am hoping to inspire people to do are not going to change the world.  They are not going to protect innocent lives.  They are not going to make it safer for black men in America. 

But I hope that they DO make people think.  And I hope they make people ACT.  And if we all could stop, think, and ACT kinder and nicer to everyone, well, then wouldn’t the world be at least a smidgen better? 

Would you hang one of these signs in your neighborhood, too?  If you would like the template to print one, comment below or email me at kindnessactivist@gmail.com .  Maybe these tiny reminders of how simple little gestures can improve the world are one itty bitty way to make a dent in negative state of our country. 

As for my sign, 3 strips have already been taken.  I am hoping that someone has “sent a real card or letter” to someone, given someone a “genuine compliment” and “picked up trash that someone else left”.  Bit by bit, piece by piece, I hope someway we can improve the world