Not just December

Most folks love the parties, the gift-giving, and all the extra happiness that seems to show up every year at this time, but I wish we could all do a better job of spreading it out through the rest of the year.  Why should one month get all the fun?  Kindness is not only for December, but for every month and every single day!

Saint Nicholas

The sixth of December is celebrated as the feast day of Saint Nicholas, and it has nothing to do with Christmas.  The legend tells of three bags of gold coins.  Whether or not it is true is really not important.  What Nicholas has come to represent is good honest giving with no expectation of anything in return.  That's what kindness is all about.  We should be kind because we want people to be kind to us.  We should do it because it is good and proper and because it makes other people feel good.  Today, think of Saint Nicholas as you do kind things and expect nothing at all in return.  You WILL get something.  You'll get a wonderful feeling!

Senator Dole's tribute

One of the most emotional moments I have ever seen was yesterday in Washington when former Senator Robert Dole was helped out of his wheelchair and saluted the casket of Former President George Herbert Walker Bush in the Capitol Rotunda.  It was a kind gesture to be sure and it was heartwarming.  Sometimes with politics we get to caught up in policy and we forget about our shared humanity.  Thank you Senator Dole for a very moving tribute.

cookie day

Guess what today is.  (I can smell them baking in the oven).  Today is National Cookie Day.  Yum!  That gives me dozens of ideas relating to kindness.  Can you think of some too?  Let's brighten the day for some people with cookies!

loving December

I am loving December!  Is it because Hanukkah is upon us and Christmas and Kwanzaa are soon to be here too?  Is it the lights and the parties and the sales?  Is it the happier attitude that descends on so many of us?  Is it because folks seem to always be kinder around this time of year?  Maybe it's all of these things!

Today there's a difference

Many of you won't notice but today there's a difference in this blog.  Generally I rise before the sun and take a walk or run, and then refreshed from my morning ablutions, I enjoy some hot coffee while saying something here about kindness.  Normally that would have happened a couple of hours ago, but today I slept late, something I never do.  I'm fine.  I feel well rested.  I'm just late.  Like I said, most of you wouldn't even notice, but I do.  Let's all be extra kind!

Remembering and looking forward

Remembering those days when I went to a funeral five or six times a week, or made trips to Ward 86, or stood in the cold air with hundreds or others, holding a candle. Remembering the rallies, the marches, the speeches, the AIDSWalks, the quilt panels, and the meetings.  Remembering the kindness of strangers and all the folks who cared.  On this World AIDS Day, doing a lot of remembering and looking forward to the end of AIDS.