On Kindness
It was interesting reading the first chapter about kindness and how some people seemed to be against kindness or were suspicious of act of kindness. In which the book claims “most people appear to believe that deep down they (and other people) are mad, bad, and dangerous to know… that our motives are utterly self-seeking, and that our sympathies are forms of self-protection” (4). If this is the view people have on kindness and why some people choose to do acts of kindness then it would explain why some people have a negative view on kindness or are suspicious of acts of kindness. The reality is that we do question the true motives of people such as celebrities when they donate to charities, visit children at hospitals, or do any act of kindness. What stood out to be was that “kindly behavior is looked upon with suspicion; public espousals of kindness are dismissed as moralistic and sentimental” (7). I believe this statement is true because I have questioned the kindly behavior of others as have others have questioned mine. There is a sense of suspicion in which we are not doing this because of the kindness at the bottom of our hearts but because we will gain something from it. Kindness is a concept that is being lost because we grow up in a society in which being competitive is important and are rewarded for being the best. In which we are told to try harder next time and we begin shifting into a mind set of only caring about you and forgetting about others. I know realize that many of the things I did before what not acts of kindness although I believed they were but more like showing that I was better than others. Volunteering, helping or getting in involved in projects competing against friends and classmates everything was a competition between us and nothing more. But that feeling does not comparative to the feeling I get from doing some kind act. On Friday I helped to do the mailing for my service learning at Marin Link and although all I did was help in the process of getting the mailing done, it felt good. Not only because I got to help out but because it made me feel happy to be part of the Green Business Forum and being able to mail the letters the same day. I’ve worked on projects and events before but I’ve never had that feeling of peace, relaxation, and happiness like I did on Friday, the other times I just felt like getting it done and moving on. It might be that I have changed since my arrival at Dominican in which I view life differently but the feeling of doing something to help out someone other than yourself is an indescribable which just brightens your day. While another reason people might refrain themselves from doing acts of kindness could be the belief that “women [are] naturally prone to sympathetic incontinence, while men, as the ruling sex, had to retain self-command” (40). For guys it might seem like a sign of weakness to be kind especially when you’re surrounded by people who mock you whenever you do something kind or question your kindness. Kindness does not discriminate among genders or is a characteristic that only belongs to one particular gender. People should move from caring about what others may say or think and maybe then people will be more kind or not think twice before giving in to kindness.