A Place of Kindness

December 2024 - Feliciana Explorer

Kindness is a quality that involves being considerate, compassionate, and generous toward others. It can be expressed through actions, words, or gestures, and it often involves offering help or support without expecting anything in return. Kindness has the power to build strong relationships, improve emotional well-being, and foster positive environments, whether in personal interactions or in communities.

Kindness can take many forms, such as:

• Offering a helping hand to someone in need

• Listening attentively when someone needs to talk

• Sharing something with others, even when you have little yourself

• Showing appreciation or giving compliments to boost someone's spirits

In communities like St. Francisville -the one I grew up in, kindness is often a foundational value that is naturally demonstrated and passed down through generations. People tend to model positive behavior, creating a strong, supportive environment where acts of kindness are both expected and celebrated.I am entirely grateful to my  for their role in this.

I will never forget a time when I was offering a helping hand to someone in need. My daughter, a senior in high school, and I had moved to the west coast. There we were navigating new territory, not to mention culture. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an elderly lady, slowly walking with a cane approaching the grocery store door. We quickly moved to the side and opened the door for her to go in first. She gave us a gesture with her cane for us to go in first. Well, my southern roots felt compelled to say, “No, ma’am, we are holding the door for you.” She quickly snarled and exclaimed, “Ma’am?! Where are you from?!?” I softly replied, “A place of kindness ma’am, a place of kindness.”

That brief exchange might have been a bit uncomfortable at first, but it also could have planted a seed of reflection for the elderly woman. Perhaps, in that moment, she was not just being defensive or puzzled by my gesture; she might have been experiencing a clash of norms that prompted a little curiosity or contemplation…and yes, even fear.

And a seed of reflection was planted in my daughter too. She looked at me wide-eyed as we walked into the store (after the elderly lady went in) and said, “Wow! What’s her problememo?” I replied, "She is terrified of kindness. But we will choose to be kind.”

This experience underscores an important point: kindness is not always universally understood or appreciated in the same way, especially when people come from different places with different customs. Yet, even when our kindness is not met with immediate warmth or understanding, it still matters.

I continued to explain to my daughter that in moments like these, we have the opportunity to teach and model kindness not just through our actions but through the way we respond to others’ reactions, however unexpected they might be.

My gentle response, “a place of kindness,” reflected an unwavering commitment to my values, regardless of how they are received, and ultimately shows that kindness is not just about how others react—it’s about how we express who we are and the world we want to create, one interaction at a time.

During my west coast tenure, it was evident that my southern roots had shaped my expectations of human interaction—where respect and empathy are foundational—and I wanted to share that with someone else, even in an unfamiliar place…and I continually did. Since my return home, several former colleagues have since come to the south for their first time to visit me here, just to see where I grew up. As an incentive to ‘come see where I be’ (bad English intended); I offered free airport pickup (yes that included MSY), tour, dinner and return to airport - a taste of the kindness and warmth that is so much a part of my upbringing.

Ultimately, kindness is about making the world a better, more compassionate place by showing empathy and respect for others. It can have a ripple effect, inspiring others to be kind in return. Be kind to someone today!