Raising Kind Humans
How a stranger reminded me to seek out hope
Welcome to Moments & Mirrors! 🤍 Moments & Mirrors will unfold as a collection of stories and reflections drawn from my own experiences, with the hope that they inspire ideas for my daughters to inherit and individualize. So glad you are here, friend! 💌
A couple weekends ago, my husband and I went to a Maren Morris concert. We bought the tickets slightly spontaneously (well, as spontaneously as you can as a parent that needs to coordinate babysitting), and I was so excited. I needed a night out and I needed it to be something that felt like me. Maren Morris is one of my favorite artists and concerts are my favorite events. So while it seemed like a perfect decision, I definitely underestimated how uncomfortable I would be with my pregnancy.
The concert was general admission - just standing room and come when the doors open to snag your spot! Normally this is my favorite set up. But as we stood in line to get in the doors, I quickly realized I might not make it through the night. This pregnancy has felt so much harder on me physically. My husband, being the angel he is, said let’s go splurge on VIP tickets so that you can have a chair and enjoy the entire show.
We went to the line and were quickly approached by a woman. “We have 4 extra VIP tickets. We heard there was a pregnant woman here. Would you two like the extra tickets?” Uhhh, yes please! I was so touched by her act of kindness.
It had me reflecting on other moments of kindness in my life. I will never forget when my best friend’s mom sent me homemade Italian wedding soup when I had strep throat. I was freshly graduated from college and still waiting for my health insurance to kick in from my first “big girl” job. Her kindness actually made me cry. I still think of her every time I eat wedding soup. I think of my friend who out-of-the-blue sent me baby items and an UberEats gift card when I was postpartum. I think about the multiple times I’ve been in a Starbucks drive through and rolled up to the window only to be told “The person ahead of you paid for your order!”
These moments always inspire me to pay it forward. I’d like to think I’m part of a chain of continuous kindness, with any of my acts hopefully inspiring others just the same.
While I was sitting at the concert, the other couple that was offered the additional 2 VIP tickets leaned over to me and said, “We’re old and cynical. So it’s nice when things like this happen!” It made me laugh a little, but she had a point.
It’s so easy to become cynical, isn’t it? You can see such hatred on the news, in social media comments, or even out and about in stores and at restaurants. There was once somebody in my life who had a streak of being rude to our server almost every time I went out to a meal with them. And they always had a complaint about something afterwards. It got to the point where it felt uncomfortable to even go out with them. I didn’t want to be around the negativity they always seemed to find, and I always felt terrible for the servers.
It makes me wonder what actually influences our focus. What makes us optimists or pessimists?
(Side note: ^^ re-reading that sentence I just wrote and almost switched it to a ‘I couldn’t help but wonder’ Carrie Bradshaw moment)
I don’t have the answer for that. I only have my experiences and what I personally want for my life. And for me, I want to remember the good around me. While of course there will always be a gray-matter mix of good and bad in life, I really do believe most people are good and kind-hearted. Call me naive. But I’d rather be naively hopeful than jaded. I hope my kiddos are the same way.
I want to raise hopeful humans.
I want to raise kind humans.
My husband and I were watching Lost the other night when one of the characters said: “False hope is still hope.” Yes, I thought. That’s exactly it.
Thank you to that concert-stranger that’s inspired me to be more actively kind in my day-to-day life. If you want to join me, here is a list of random acts of kindness you can do today:
Pay for person behind you in a drive-through
Text a friend to let them know you are thinking of them and ask about their day/life
Write a kind note for someone
Call your grandparents
Make or buy sweet treats for someone
Leave an extra generous tip
Volunteer somewhere local
Leave a nice review for a local business
Leave drinks & snacks outside of your door for delivery people
Give a friend a book you read that you think they’d enjoy
Buy someone flowers for no reason
Compliment a stranger
Do the chore you know your partner dreads
Donate to a charity
Push back carts you see abandoned in a parking lot
Buy someone in need a meal
Pick up trash/litter when you see it
Comment something nice on social media
Donate items you don’t use or need
Thank you for reading! Go out and do something kind today, for yourself, for a friend, for a stranger - or all of the above!
This was so lovely to read, Cassie! Feeling all the feels of being inspired to be kind to someone every day <3