“Kind World”
Neil Mufson, Head of School

As we begin a new calendar year, I’d like to return us to the Primary Day value with which we began this academic year: kindness. World events and daily life remind us that there is never a shortage of situations in which kindness is important and potentially transformational. As I have already cited on many occasions, research on kindness shows that no act of kindness is wasted. They all improve how we feel about our place in our world, how we impact the lives within our orbit, and how we can even improve the world in general. Ask your children, “What did the Dalai Lama say about kindness?” and most can recall, “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” 

One of my favorite podcasts is an utterly amazing, inspiring, and now discontinued series called “Kind World.” Each piece is only four to six minutes long, but I found each more powerful than the last. The lead-in describes the podcast as illustrating that “Small acts of kindness may seem ordinary but are actually extraordinary and amazing to others. A smile, a helping hand, or simply listening can be as important as breakthrough therapies.” The episodes go on to tell the story of a single set of circumstances which illustrate how powerful a “simple” act of kindness can be. For example, the episode “Strangers at the Airport” tells the story of a young woman whose plane journey got interrupted in severe thunderstorms and how a family intervened to make her feel safe, cared for, and not alone during an overnight delay at a connecting airport. Even our first and second graders would be able to relate to what the family did to display kindness, how they initiated that kindness, and how their compassion made the young woman feel. They would realize that it doesn’t take big actions to show kindness and have an impact.

While many “Kind World” episodes are decidedly adult-oriented, by listening to them, we can gain a broader sense of how meaningful individual action can be. They give us an inspiring sense of how we can reach out to others – even total strangers – and make a difference in how they feel – and ultimately how we feel. And here’s a challenge worth setting: Can your family regularly reflect (weekly, for instance) on an action some family member took that was a particular act of kindness and the impact it had? Or, did someone treat “one of us” kindly and how did that make us feel?

While empathy can be an abstract concept for our small children, all understand the idea of kindness. It is an important habit to form, practice, and reflect upon. By flexing the kindness muscle more intentionally, we increase the likelihood of its positive impact, of meeting the promise of the Dalai Lama’s truth.