CELEBRATE KINDNESS DAY

International Kindness Day
Sunday 13th November 2022

This year is the 25th Anniversary of World Kindness Day, which is celebrated on 13th November each year. It was started in 1997 by the World Kindness Movement in Japan and the purpose of the day is to both highlight and encourage good deeds in the community.

Groups and individuals are encouraged to go out of their way to be kind to others, be it at home, work, school or just out and about. ​

Groups and individuals are encouraged to go out of their way to be kind to others, be it at home, work, school or just out and about. 

Every kind act, however small, matters and creates a ripple effect because essentially it is kindness that binds people together. In a world where a lack of kindness can seem so prevalent, it is a relief to be reminded that human nature is compassionate and caring and that being aware of this and putting it into practise in everyday life is to be true to oneself.

Interestingly, the origin of the word kind comes from Old English: ‘gecynd’ meaning natural, innate, native. In its original sense it was used to mean ‘nature, the natural order’ and also ‘innate character form or condition’.

This poem describes kindness as a fundamental quality in human nature:

Kindness, innate in the human heart,
Is an act of care for another,
Natural, as is the love of parent for child.
Devotion is the well-spring from which it flows,
Nourishing giver and receiver alike to feel
Empathy, and see one’s own self in another,
Sensitively expressing a common bond that’s
Shared without thought of gift or reward.
 
Kindred spirits are we all, kith ‘n kin,
Interconnected through thought, word and deed.
None is exempt from the laws of cause and effect,
Defined as we are by the realm of consciousness.
Nurturing compassion is the remedy that
Elevates mood and lifts an experience by
Satisfying the need for contentment, in the
Service of heartfelt love and affection.
​

The Creator Has a Masterplan (video recording on YouTube) played by Carlos Santana and John Mclaughlin at the 2011 Montreux Jazz Festival expresses these sentiments beautifully. 







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Words: Geraldine Andrews