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
