Being Kind Is More Than A Simple Rewind

Being Kind Is More Than A Simple Rewind
Local college student figures out kindness is pretty groovy.


So I stand for a lot of different values, some political, ethical, religious, and most of all practical. When I first wrote down what I believed in for this blog post I wrote: "I believe in listening..." well to be honest that is way too specific and I do believe in a heck of a lot more than listening. Before I tell you what I believe in I would like to give a run down of how I determined what exactly I wanted to believe in that spoke to my values.

The Contributing C's:

Citizenship: So this one is important to me because as a sociology major we discuss a lot about what  it means to contribute to your society and also what it means to belong to your society. Honestly, we all live in differing levels of society, whether it is a society of high or low income, a group who chooses to stand on the side of love over hate, a group who feels that race is a non factor in their everyday lives or those who feel that race or gender or sexuality warrant hate and exclusion. So when I think about what I believe in, in terms of citizenship, I believe in kindness. I believe that since I would want to be treated with kindness regardless of my standing in society that I should do the same.

Controversy: Well it may come as a shock to you all but....I....avoid...conflict. I am confident enough in my self-understanding to know that conflict makes me ill, so here is what I think of when I think of how I would deal with controversy. Whenever conflict arises, I fear that high tempers and poor listening will stand in the way of quick resolutions but I also think that there is a way to have a conflict without verbal bashing or violence (this is for a more localized conflict scenario. i am not a strategist, or a politician so domestic and foreign affairs are most likely not to be solved through this method. I am not claiming to bring world piece, I promise). I think that it is important to be kind during conflict. Now I am talking about the level of kindness that come sin the form of respect and patience and the ability to walk in their shoes for 15 ft (not a mile, because like seriously, I am not a masochist). Listen, be respectful, and just remember that no matter how angry you are the best way to be heard is through your acts of kindness, not your acts of aggression.

Common Purpose: So what is one thing that we all learn from a young age? That one rule where we are taught that if we want to be treated a certain way then we should treat others the way we want to be treated? You know,  something that includes no name calling, toy hogging, etc? Oh yeah, it's KINDNESS. We all have plenty of common goals that shift and adapt depending on where we are in life, but I think it is safe to say that from early on, we are all taught that our common purpose is to be kind throughout of lives.

So my belief is obviously KINDNESS. But just because the cat is out of the bag doe not mean that I have to let the baby out of the bath water and send it straight to hell in a hand basket! So I will discuss a fourth C to give just a tad more insight to my thought process and how I feel kindness is a believe that can be strongly continued through the Social Change Model.

Collaboration: A great and effective way to collaborate and spread social change is through kindness. Now what  I like about kindness is that it is multi-dimensional. Like I have stated in previous paragraphs, kindness is all inclusive in terms of being a descent human being. It contains respect, active listening, sticking up for yourself (being kind to yourself), being fair, and on and on. Collaboration is largely based on the successful meshing of a group, and kindness is what can drive a group to find their strengths and correct the spots where they are lacking.

So kindness is what I believe in, and I promise, I am not naive enough to think hat kindness can solve world problems, end hunger, give everyone access to education, end hate crimes, etc. But I do know that kindness is where solutions to the BIG problems start. Kindness is a teacher encouraging you to follow your dream and setting you up to create social change. Kindness is a best friend promising you that while some people may hate you just because of what you look like, who you love, and how much money you make, you are loved and should just continue to ignore the hate the best you can. Kindness is a job offer to a person who desperately needs a life distraction or the steady income. So I believe in grassroots social change, with the optimistic view that it will continue making a global chain reaction. So be kind kids, and do more than just rewind.

Please feel obligated to listen to One Direction's new single. I don't know how it got there but it sure was kind of them to release a new single (ilovethemsomuch).

-Emma