Contagious Kindness
How is your heart feeling after all that’s been going on lately?
All of us in Minneapolis, and those with us in spirit, have had some very heart-stretching few months. I notice around me a mix of profound exhaustion mixed with surprising hope.
Most unexpected: my heart feels less constricted by fear than it did a few months ago.
The source of this miracle for my heart is kindness. Robust, generous, widespread, creative, fierce, playful, and compassionate kindness happening everywhere in my community.
Kindness like this is contagious. We embolden each other with kindness that inspires us to innovate responses to any challenge.
This kindness gives me energy and courage to keep turning my heart to the needs of my community and moves me beyond some of my reptilian reflexes for self-preservation.
Each little kindness matters. I am in awe of some of the risks and hours of work many people are giving to our community. Many of the kindnesses are also rather ordinary – like picking up groceries for a neighbor – but add up to something profound.
Some days I only feel able to do small kindnesses: stopping for pedestrians while driving, picking up a discarded chip bag on my walk home. The past few months taught me how much these little kindnesses still matter and add up.
A year ago, my qigong teacher Chunyi Lin offered his energy forecast for the year to come. Anticipating lots of chaos, he said the best protection is kindness. “Those who are kind to everyone and everything will be protected.” Today I find new meaning and wisdom in these words.
When we stand for kindness, not just against the enemy of the day, we are remembering the best versions of ourselves and what we can be.
I love that the word kin, as in kinship, is hidden within the word kindness. Kindness helps us build a culture of kinship, that honors how we all belong to each other.
How is kindness touching you?
What is one kind thing you can do for your body today?
What is one recent example of kindness that you witnessed or experienced that is a model of how you would like to be?
Who can you thank today for their kindness?
How might you honor a new relationship or renewed connection you made in the past two months? Perhaps you want to drop a quick text or make a date to connect again.
As always, I’m devoted to helping you cultivate health, presence, creativity, and power through transformative times.
Love,
emily
p.s. These past few months have been a lot. If your worn-out self is needing a private space to integrate the all the powerful emotions that come with this moment through a modality that is beyond just talking, the intimacy of one-on-one sessions may be just the ticket. You can get started here.