The Contagion of Kindness
The most amazing consequence of Kindness is that it is IMMEDIATE! The moment you are kind to another, whether in thought or deed; the infusion of inner calm, peace and spiritual warmth is instantaneous. Kindness is contagious without the need for incubation.
The feeling that comes from invoking kindness is an amazing phenomenon. It’s actually a more fulfilling feeling than when you are the recipient of kindness. Take a moment to Pause (one of my favorite words) and think about that—even though Kindness is a boomerang the length of time it takes to return is infinitesimal because the repercussions of the boomerang are less the reward—the warm and fuzzy feelings are actually ignited the moment you initiate the kindness. The return act of someone (or the universe) showing you kindness is nice, but lacks the depth (and in my mind the richness of color and iridescence) that is felt from the initial act. (Side Note: I see my life and feelings as colors. That’s an entirely different discussion to have at another time.)
The important thing to realize is that when we’re down, a little blue (or a lot blue), or when we want to have an attitude adjustment, we know for absolute certainty that if we just whip up some kindness we will instantly be rewarded with all of the amazing feelings that are associated with Joy and Love. This isn’t just my gut feeling, according to this Psychology Today article, “Numerous studies have shown that receiving, giving, or even witnessing acts of kindness increases immunity and the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates mood in the brain.”
Since I mentioned how I see my life in color, what colors do you imagine with the thoughts and actions of kindness? YES PEOPLE! I hear you loud and clear, “Whoa, Miss Val just crossed over to crazy.” I didn’t just cross over, it’s how I’ve viewed Life forever, in various shades, hues, and vividness of color.
This reminds me of one of my most favorite moments with former UCLA gymnast Sophina DeJesus. We asked our student-athletes for some fun facts and one question was, “What is your favorite color?” Sophina responded, “Sparkle.”
I view kindness as a pastel rainbow of iridescent, which has a calm but consistent flow. Remember that you are the brush and kindness is the paint with which you get to color the world around you—and sometimes that color is sparkle!
This is tough! I’ve thought of emotions as colours, but not feelings or acts per se. My immediate thought of sparkle is one of celebration. Rainbows are encouragement – I think because I always seem to see them when I am discouraged, and it’s like God is saying “Don’t worry, it’s all going to be ok in the end”. To me kindness is not so much a colour but a temperature. It’s not too hot, and not too cold. It’s that warm cosy feeling of being under a fleecey blanket or being hugged up close to someone you feel at… Read more »
Thank you for sharing. I loved reading your descriptions and absolutely agree with you and Abbe.
First of all, I’m so happy to know that I am not the only one that “sees” emotions in color! To me emotions, feeling, etc have color, smell, tactility, and sound. Sometimes a soundtrack. To me kindness is soft like puppy fur, it smells like rain, and is rainbow. Not a uniform rainbow, though. More prism like. On the other hand cruelty has no color. Not black, just an absence of color. And it feels so cold & caustic it burns. Thank you for validating my quirks ??
I loved your descriptions… especially the absence of color. Cruelty doesn’t deserve a color.
Have you ever been mopping floors & looked in the bucket to see how disgusting the dirty water is? That’s how I see cruelty, It’s murky, gross, and I don’t want it near me.
I agree. I like to believe that everyone has goodness inside of them. It’s frightening when evil overshadows good.
I view different acts of kindness in different colors. Someone giving me a hug when I need some support is a soft, light blue. Someone surprising me with my favorite snack is bright yellow. Some writing a kind note is pink. I guess the colors kind of go with how the kindness makes me feel/makes the person I’m being kind to feel.
Oh I love how descriptive you got with your reply. Your colors resonated with me as at this very moment I have a card next to me that I pulled out to write a note to one of my alumna who’s going through breast cancer. The card is a small white card with a dash of light pink ballet point shoes on the front. To me it exudes kindness.
Miss Val, I love your musings and all they challenge me to consider and contemplate. In the busyness of each day, it is far too easy to “forget” kindness–to go along with the motions and forget to be constantly present, to forget to give kindness out like confetti. And yes, I agree, “the warm and fuzzy feelings are actually ignited the moment you initiate the kindness.” I believe with the Spirit and presence of Christ, being consciously present is synonymous with being kind and spreading kindness. If I’m in tune to what God is asking me to do, I will… Read more »
HAHAHA Confetti! I love it! Yippeee!!!
Your post made me think of a book that I read when I was fresh out of college called The Color of Water. It is a true story about a young black man who grew up with a white mother in an area that was predominately black. He had many questions for his mother about where and how he fit in in the world. The book is a tribute to his mother and her ability to raise 12 kids and have them all graduate from college while facing many cultural and religious challenges. The title of the book comes from… Read more »
I loved your reply so much I immediately ordered The Color of Water. THANK YOU for the reference.
Just to warn you, you may need some tissues when you read that book. I did.
Just got the book. Will start in as soon as I finish what I’m reading now….stay tuned.
Your musings always resonate with me and make me self reflect; so thank you for the weekly opportunity. I have contemplated the notion that being kind brings oneself joy, but to me, it is actually the opposite that occurs; being unkind makes me feel very uncomfortable. It is difficult for me to be unkind – it doesn’t feel good to me. I have never correlated my personal happiness with being kind. But maybe there is something to it. Also, I question if being kind is a natural state of being or a conscious decision? If I had to attach a… Read more »
Thanks for sharing Abbe. I love your perspectives because you are truly one of the most sincerely kind person I know.
Purple… I have no idea why. I see all different shades of purple (although mostly richer jewel tone ones). More accurately, I see hugs as purple and kindness just follows with that in my mind.
I know that being kind to someone always makes me feel better but somehow I don’t seem to remember that on days where I’m unhappy or even downright grumpy. I will have to make a mental note to be more conscious of it.
I see kindness as all bright colors! Bright colors always lead me to thinking of happiness, which can be derived from kindness 🙂
You are wise beyond your years Riley!
Rainbow!! Because there are so many different ways to be kind to people but they all give a good feeling. The best part about it is that it never gets old, and the feeing(or color) is different every time! No one person is going thru the same thing or will react to a smile or kind gesture, so any act of kindness affects a person differently
YES R A I N B O W!