For the last several weeks, most days, I’ve been watching Governor Raimondo’s update. She and Dr. Alexander Scott have provided so much calm and wisdom throughout this seemingly crazy time. Every Friday in her briefings, Gov. Raimondo has encouraged and asked Rhode Islanders to “be kind”; to do something over the weekend for someone who needs it. She said in fact, “Kindness to each other is what’s going to all of us through this.” I think she’s right.
This comment got me thinking about the term “random acts of kindness”. Every day on the news or on Facebook, I see the reports of kindness being recognized. The lawn signs, the gratitude and birthday parades, the meals delivered to front line workers, songs being sung outside the windows of nursing homes—all kinds of great stories! In some stories, they are reported as “random” acts of kindness, but are they random, really? It’s not the way I see it.
They are deliberate acts, quite intentional in fact. So, what would happen if deliberate acts of kindness became the order of the day, no prompting necessary? I think that this pandemic, and any future crisis, would be easier to navigate for everyone. We would all be looking out for one another at the same time. We might even share our toilet paper rather than hoarding it.
The people who I work with are kind every day, to each other, and to the families and children we serve. They don’t need to be asked or reminded to go out of their way to make life better for anyone. The home visitors, community nurses, clinicians, WIC staff, social workers, teaching staff…all of our staff, practice Deliberate Acts of Kindness. Every day, regardless of crisis or pandemic, as a normal course of their day; they make sure that the most vulnerable among us know kindness.
Imagine a world where we all know kindness, every day, no matter our situation.
Guest Blogger
Kelly Wishart, Vice President
Professional Development and Quality