I want them to be more significant things, but I try to be kind everyday. Sometimes, people just won’t let you.

Tonight I was coming back from the gas station and there was an accident at the corner near my house. It involved a car and a bicyclist. The bicycle was on the ground as was the rider. The car was stopped and were two police cars and a firetruck. The right lane was blocked. I was in the left lane and there were cars in the right lane that were stuck behind the car that had evidently hit the cyclist.

So . . . I thought I would do the “kind” thing and not move forward when the light changed so some of the poeple in the right lane could pull out in front of me and get on their way.

THEY REFUSED TO GO IN FRONT OF ME . . . They evidently wanted to sit stuck behind the car so they could continue to keep gawking at the guy on the ground.

Somedays you just can’t be kind . . . just not happening! 5 months ago

I have had this little computer toy sitting around my house for a while. It is for a small child and I was thinking that I was going to take it to Goodwill, but it came to me today that one of my son’s friends has a little girl that it would be perfect for. I drove over to their apartment this afternoon and dropped it off for her (complete with new batteries) I felt good that it was now in the perfect place. I didn’t need another tax deduction; I needed an act of kindness. Little girl is loving her new toy. 5 months ago

This one came to me today at lunch with my kids.

I volunteer for VNSA We work all year towards this huge booksale which has historically earned a ton of money. Several hundred thousand dollars each year. All, of the money is given to charities within our county. There is absolutely no paid staff. We are all volunteers. The only overhead we have us utilities and maintenance on the warehouse.

We have two main charities that we support every single year, but then we give other money to charities that we vote on each year. This past year one of the charities we voted on was MANA House which is a transititonal shelter for homeless veterans. Up until this year, they have only been able to house men. The money that we gave them this past year helped them to make some changes in their facility that will now allow them to house 16 women as well. The first 16 women will move in in the middle of this month.

As a side project, we are preparing gift bags to give to the women that would include all kinds of toiletries that one needs on a daily basis. Basic items that we all take for granted in our lives:

Combs and Brushes

Toothbrushes and toothpaste

Shampoo

Deodorant

Body/hand lotion

Bar soap or shower gel

Disposable razors and shaving gel

Feminine hygiene products

Shower caps

Lip balm

So the woman that is spearheading this effort put ou the word to everyone that if you wanted to donate, that she preferred you send Targe or Walmart gift cards or cash and she would do the shopping. I was planning to send her $100. Then I got a different idea when I was having lunch with my kids. We were talking about the project and then one of them mentioed that they wanted to stop at the 99 cent store . . . OMG!!! I realized that the 99cent store has all of these things, name brands even . . . for 99cents! So I got Colgate toothpaste for 99 cents rather that $3.00 Arid deodorant etc . . .

This is a way better use of the funds donated for this project than going to Target or Walmart. So the kids and I got shaving gel, razors, tootpaste, tooth brushes, maxi pads, deodorant, shower caps, shampoo, body wash, lotion, shower pouffs and soaps, 11 items in all for each of the 16 women. I am thinking then that this should put a good dent in the items tha are needed for the gift bags and maybe she could take some of that Target and Walmart money and buy nice tote bags instead.

I feel super happy about this project. These are veterans for God Sake. No one should be homeless in our country, but especially the fact that veterans are homeless is just an outrage. 5 months ago

My daugher is in Phoenix for the Christmas break. She is presently working on her Masters degree at NAU (Northern Arizona University) in Flagstaff. She opted to stay at her friends house with her friend and her friends Mom during the break, although she did spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with us.

She was telling me yesterday how her friend and the Mom are struggling. The Mom has cancer and the related costs of treatment and loss of work have have caused a serious financial hardship on them. Additionally her friend, who is a massage therapist was in any accident that required a major neck surgery and cannot work at this time. They are really struggling and even had their electricity cut off at least once due to lack of funds.

When my daughter went back to her friends house, I send two baskets of Christmas snacks, spaghetti and spaghetti sauce as well as fresh baked bread and $40.00 cash. $40. isn’t very much, but it was I had on me when I put the baskets together. I hope it will help some. 5 months ago

Today I picked out several outfits and two pair of shoes for “W” who is my son’s girlfriend’s other daughter. I got the daughter “H” a bike, helmet and lock. Today I spent equal money on W for new outfits. I got some smokin’ deals so it was really a lot of clothes for my money. I will wrap everything tomorrow and get them on the way over there. I intend to sign my son & his girlfriends names to the gifts. It is better that they look good in the girls eyes than me. I feel much better about their Christmas now. 5 months ago

Today I copied Waterfall Nymph’sact of kindness and also sent Dreamer 5 smoke alarms from AMAZON for her kids at school. It seemed approriate to send something so important to kids whose lives could be saved with such a sensible item in honor of kids whose lives were taken so senselessly 5 months ago

My son’s girlfirend has two children, both girls. She tends not to place the girls first in her life which I have talked to her about on several occasions. She gets all caught up in my son’s world at the expense of her daughters. It makes me angry sometimes, especially at important times like Christmas and Birthdays.

So last night I find out that once again . . . it’s looking a lot like a shitty Christmas. The youngest daughter is getting some Barbie clothes. What she really wants is a bike.

Today, when I was out doing some appraisal inspections, I stopped at Walmart and got a really cute bike, a helmet and a lock. I was thinking that this might not be a “Random Act of Kindness” I was on the fence, but LunaGirl says that it is, so I will let this one be #2. I guess I wasn’t sure becasue I bail their Mom out quite a bit . . . I struggled for a long time when I was raising my kids, but I never let their birthdays or Christmas slide by. I don’t understand that. They are just kids . . . but I did “randomly” stop and get the bike. Of course I was seething about it all last night . . . 5 months ago

It truly was random!!!

I was doing an appraisal in Sedona this afternoon and when I got to the subject house, I was getting my stuff together and this man and woman approached me. They were an older couple “70ish” maybe and they wanted to know how to get back to a certain point. They had been hiking the Jordan Trail and got themselves lost.

I wasn’t familiar with the street they were asking about, but when I got my map out, it was really really far from where they (and I) were right at that minute. Really far!!! They were so off course it was crazy. They had evidently been wandering around lost for quite a while.

I told them that I had to do this appraisal inspection and that it would take me 30 – 45 minutes, but when I was done I would drive them to their car. They waited for me and I drove them to their car when I was finsihed. They were visting from Washington State. They tried to give me money for gas and I told them no thank you and then they tried to get Mr. HC and I to come to dinner with them. So I told them that they had already helped me as I needed to do these 26 random acts of kindness and this was my first one so I thanked them for helping me! The wife said that they would pay it forward. I hope they do! 6 months ago

Ann Curry is calling on people all over the world to do 26 random acts of kindness for each of the people killed in Sandy Hook Elementary School.

I am going to do this too!!! i will record them here, not because I want to be recognized for 26 acts of kindness, but because Iwant to make sure that I do 26 in honor of the 20 sweet babies and 6 brave adults that lost their lives in this senseless act of ugliness.

I have been obsessing over this in my mind, on theverge of making myself sick over what has happened. I want this to help settlemy emotions or my obsessions, whatever it is . . . 6 months ago

(who is my gay “husband” according to Mr. HC) lives in the Coronado District which is one of the historic designated districts in Phoenix, very proximate to downtown Phoenix and very proximate to a lot of the services for homeless adults. As a result, there are a good number of homeless people in and around his neighborhood. Last summer, has found himself being “connected” to a man named Roy. This post isn’t about my act of random kindness, but about Rob’s act of random kindness that has turned into something much more intentional.

Rob saw Roy one day early last summer. He said there was something different about Roy that made him want to pay attention to him. Roy is a very frail person, quiet, soft spoken. He walks with all his earthly belongings in a plastic bag on a stick (seriously . . . like you see in caricature photos of old time hobos) and a back pack. He is scared a lot of the time and yes, he does have a drinking problem. Rob was initially struck by the frailness of Roy. He offered him some water one day and then gave hime some water the next day etc. Phoenix is a hot hot hot and deadly place to be homeless in the summer time. Water IS a kindness. Almost everyday Rob would give him water and sometimes a hard boiled egg or a sandwich as he walked through the neighborhood and past Rob’s house. Sometimes Rob would give him $3 or so, never very much. Rob would offer, Roy never asks. Rob says that Roy is always sincerely grateful and appreciates whatever Rob gives him. Roy never asks for anything, but mostly accepts whatever Rob gives him. One time Rob offered him a pair of shoes and Roy told him the shoes he had were still good, but thank you anyway.

Not too long ago Roy’s pocessions were stolen by another homeless person(s) probably when he was passed out somewhere. It was kind of sad. I suspect being homeless for a long period of time is something that most of us could not easily survive, regardless of the reason we were homeless. We realize that Roy has a drinking problem, but none the less he is a person and he is actually a nice person.

Last weekend Rob and his neighbor Steve had a yard sale. They had a whole bunch of stuff they were selling and Roy happened to shuffle by. This woman was looking at a blanket that Rob was selling and Rob snatched it out of her hands, told her it was not for sale and gave it to Roy as he passed by. It’s starting to get cold at night and Roy would be needing this blanket. Then Steve gave Roy a backpack that was being sold at the yard sale, so now he had a backpack again and Rob gave himn a beanie. So this is the funny part (to me anyway, O.K. except for the part where the woman he snatched the blanket from was still standing there scratching her head wondering what the hell) Roy walks away from the yard sale with a Crate & Barrell blanket, a Sharper Image back pack and an Abercromie & Fitch beanie. He is one styling homeless guy!!!

I love Rob’s tender heart. It is filled with kindness, random and intentional. 7 months ago

I suspect I do more random acts of kindness than I give myself credit for as I think I am mostly a nice person. This morning, however, I did an intentional “act of kindness”.

Thursday is recycling day in the neighborhood. We have separate recyling bins that are picked up by the City of Phoenix on Thursdays (as in separate from the regualr trash pickup). The trucks come really early in the morning so you have to take them out on Wednesday night. When I leave for work on Thursday I bring them back in.

This morning, on a whim, I brought my neighbors bin up from the curb as well. Something small but it felt kind of nice to do. 9 months ago

‘The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both.’ 9 months ago

and somewhere along the way I lost it. I found it again today. I really like it. It speaks a truth to me . . .

The Key to Life and Living

A very favorite story of mine
Is about two seas in Palestine
One is a sparkling sapphire jewel,
Its waters are clean and clear and cool,
Along its shores children play
And travelers seek it on their way,
And nature gives so lavishly
Her choicest gems to the Galilee.

But to the south the Jordan flows
Into a sea where nothing grows,
No splash of fish, no singing bird,
No children’s laughter is ever heard,
The air hangs heavy all around
And nature shuns this barren ground.

Both seas receive the Jordan’s flow,
The water is just the same, we know,
But one of the seas, like liquid sun,
Can warm the hearts of everyone,
While farther south another sea
Is dead and dark and miserly.

It takes each drop the Jordan brings
And to each drop it fiercely clings.
It hoards and holds the Jordan’s waves
Until like shackled, captured slaves
The fresh, clear Jordan turns to salt
And dies within the Dead Sea’s vault.

But the Jordan flows on rapturously
As it enters and leaves the Galilee,
For every drop that the Jordan gives
Becomes a laughing wave that lives
For the Galilee gives back each drop,
Its waters flow and never stop.

And in the laughing, living sea
That takes and gives so generously
We find the way to Life and Living
Is not in Keeping, But in Giving!

Yes, there are two Palestinian seas
And mankind is fashioned after these!

—Helen Steiner Rice 10 months ago

I had the opportunity to do something for someone today, which is not really a big deal to me, but it might me a big deal for them. This person is kind of down right now. I hope this will help in some small way. 11 months ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13cVUZKN7Ic 12 months ago

I’m utilizing my internet tools for this goal- for both facebook and wordpress. It’s a lot of fun! I think it will be more special once I get the kahunas to act on this in the not-so-digital-world 13 months ago

I am not saying anything more about it, I just was able too. I am finding that random acts of kindness are not that hard to stumble upon.

Senseless acts of beauty I am finding more difficult. Maybe I need to figure out what that expression actually means. Anyone? What would a senseless act of beauty mean to you? 14 months ago

I came across two fairlry large French Flower buckets and tossed them into my cart. I didn’t really “need” them, but I liked them and of course they were 50% off.

We were walking around with our cart and this lady looked into my cart and said something about how she wished she had seen them first. She mentioned something about finding things for her daughters wedding decorations.

I was walking around the story and kept thinking about her so when I found her again I asked her what she had said before and she told me her daughter was having some kind of rustic wedding theme (O.K. whatever) and that she was looking for decorations to fit the theme. I told her she could have the French Flower Buckets. She was kinda of surprised and kept asking me if i was sure and I kept telling her yes, so she grabbed them out of my cart, said thanks and went on her way.

Today Rob told me that “I had done a very nice thing yesterday” I didn’t know what he was talking about and he said, “When you let that lady have those flower buckets”

I really hadn’t thought about it, but I guess it was nice, but mostly it was random. I think I don’t have to plan random acts of kindness, but just be kind. 15 months ago

“Do Good” pin today and I am actually wearing it. I like it.

I have been thinking about the statement “Do Good” a lot lately. At work they had a canned food collection for one of the Food Banks over Thanksgiving and Christmas both. I was happy to contribute, but I was thinking about the problem that the Food Banks have, of running out of food during the rest of the year. Hunger isn’t just at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I wrote an email to the liaison person that was coordinating the Food Collection and asked about the possibility of doing it all year long. My thought was that we could have a theme each month. Peanut Butter one month, Tuna another, Spaghetti Sauce and pasta another, etc. There are a lot of us who work there . . . a lot and I felt that if the majority of us even brought in one thing each month, we could make a good contribution. We could “DO GOOD” So she writes back to me the next day and says that HR said we just need to keep it to the Holidays.

Why is it so hard to do good? 18 months ago

on a fairly regular basis. It seems to make them happy. Earlier in the week I made a Plum/Oatmeal cake and took it over. Tonight I took some grapes and some corn on the cob. The Care Givers will probably have to cut the corn off for some of them, but others will be fine.

They seem to get kind of excited when I come in and have something for everyone and not just my Mom. 21 months ago

through bountiful harvest. They were still needing to be more ripe last week, but today they are just right,

I am making Fresh Peach pies right now and have made two for the Care Home that my Mom is living at now. The ladies are all pretty excited and my Mom is feeling pretty special that her daughter is making pies for the group for desert.

(I checked with the Care Home director first to make sure it is O.K. to bring in food from outside their kitchen) 22 months ago

A realtor that I know contacted me last week regarding Ramiero who is trying to get his green card. The process is very long and involved and if you actually get one, you worked pretty hard for it and jumped through many hoops.

He needed an appraisal on the house that is owned by his sponsor. The sponsor had to prove financial stability if he is to sponsor Ramiero. So I negotiated a fee with Ramiero and did the appraisal.

When he came back to get it, he bent my ear for like . . . forever. It seems that his wife has been here for quite a while and he is just coming here. She is pretty established, job, place to live etc. They have been apart for a while and now he is finding that his wife has come to enjoy her “single life” here in the US and is discouraging him from coming here. As he put it “I am having problems with my wife. She is mad with me” He went on and on about how he had “other options” but he married this woman for love and now it looks like she wants him to stay in Mexico. “She is not the woman I married” says Ramiero. Ramiero is actually a fairly attractive man I might add, I suppose he did have “options”, but he married for love and not for monetary gain or citizenship.

So he went on and on and on and I nodded, wishing like crazy that I was back in bed as I was tired and this was freakin’ 7:00 in the morning. I was in no mood, but I listened just the same.

When he left, appraisal in hand, he thanked me for listening to him. A random act of kindness in his opinion that only cost me a bit of sleep . . .

Random acts of kindness are not really difficult. Maybe we could all take a minute to listen to someone who is hurting. 23 months ago

Sponsored by the MISS Foundation which is a is a 501© 3, volunteer based organization committed to providing crisis support and long term aid to families after the death of a child from any cause. MISS also participates in legislative and advocacy issues, community engagement and volunteerism, and culturally competent, multidisciplinary, education opportunities

Fortunately I have never lost a child and for that I am eternally grateful, but I have lost people in my life and I decided to participate in this project on their behalf. I don’t think it takes away from the project or the message.

So today, being Interantional Kindness Day (Why can;t we be kind everyday?) I am participating in the Kindness Project I have printed out a gazilion templates. I actually want to do this randomly beyond today. There are people in my life whom I have lost to various illnesses (AIDS, Cancer, Heart Disease, etc) that I would love to do things in their homor, on special days and well maybe even not special days. These people played on integral part in my becoming the person I am today. I wish everyone could have known them. 23 months ago

I just kind of tossed everything together and then threw in a bag of mini chocolate chips and since I didn’t seem to have any walnuts, I used pecans. It was pretty freaking good. I ended up with 4 loaves, so I took one over to Rob’s house in the morning and we had coffee and banana bread before he went to work and I gave him one to take to a client of his that I know. I used to clean their house with Rob about 15 years ago.

The husband has cancer and is getting more and more sick and wants to eat less and less, partly because honest to goodness his wife is a seriously horrible cook. Rob often brings him soup and he eats it immediately, but his wife always complains that he doesn’t eat. He just doesn’t like her cooking, plain and simple. I think they used to eat out all the time before he got sick.

So Rob said he was so happy about the banana bread and ate tons of it. It made me feel so good to give him something that he enjoyed. 1 year ago

the grocery store that I mostly go too. I have my favorite cashiers, but they are not always working so sometimes I have to go to different cashiers. I was at a different cashier this morning. Evidently I have been though her line before.

She said, offhandedly as she was placing “Mr. HC’s steak for dinner” in the bag, that in all seriousness, she loves it when I come through her line because I am always so polite and it is a pleasure to ring me up.

Evidently just being nice to a cashier is a random act of kindness and possibly even a senseless act of beauty in this town! That’s just sad ;( 2 years ago

and I do try to do this . . . randomly I guess. I was reminded again about “Practicing random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty” tonight when Mr. HC and I got Panda Express for dinner. My fortune cookie message this evening was:
“KINDNESS MAKES FOR HAPPINESS”

This is so true!

The definition of a random act of kindness is a selfless act performed by a person or persons wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual.

The phrase may have been coined by Anne Herbert, who claims to have written “Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty” on a place mat at a Sausalito restaurant in 1982 or 1983. She was on the right track whether or not this was actually her original statement or not. Kindness does make for happiness. I think I am going to see if I still have one of these bumper stickers in all my clutter! I can use all the happiness I can get make and the world can certainly use some more kindness, random or otherwise. 2 years ago