The Beginning

Here's the plan: one act of kindness, every day, for one year. This idea came to me last week. I realize that I am not the first person to undertake a project like this. I don't even know where it will go. Perhaps it will be the start of something big, or maybe it will end up being my own personal adventure. Either way, I'm committed to 365 days of kindness. Of course, I would love to have hundreds of readers. Maybe even thousands. But if no one reads this blog, if it's never viewed by anyone-- I still have the experience of doing something positive for humankind and teaching my daughter a valuable lesson about the power of kindness.

I would like to write this blog anonymously, but the content will probably give away some information. For example, I have already told you that I have a daughter (LJ). Since she is only two years old and my constant companion, I suppose she will be my partner for this project. I enlisted her help earlier this week. I told her that we might as well get used to doing some kind acts since we'll have to do them daily once the project officially begins. She colored a picture, and I picked some flowers to take to our neighbors' house (a sweet, elderly couple). They invited us in and offered LJ a chocolate chip cookie. I was thinking about the success of our first, unofficial act while LJ grabbed onto an upholstered chair and pulled it toward the table. My succesful thought bubble was quickly burst by my neighbor jumping to his feet and screaming, "AY! DOES SHE HAVE CHOCOLATE ON HER HANDS?!?!" Oops. That's when I decided that I would write about it all, uncensored, the good, the bad, as it happens. I am hoping that there will be more positives than negatives, but you never know.

So far, I've learned that strangers don't really like to be complimented on their clothing. Strangers don't really like to be talked to... at all. Maybe that's because I live in South Florida. People down here are suspicious. When I try to talk to them, I feel like they think I'm trying to rob them or beg for money or attempt to pull some kind of scam. That's not going to stop me, though. I'm a little crazy like that.

Most of the acts will be deliberate and planned in advance, but I am still going to keep my eyes open for opportunities for random acts, too. I was delighted to find a cottage cheese container full of change (and a few candy wrappers) today at the post office. I was starting to feel some pressure since I had to get some kindness in and it was almost 5:00pm. I was beaming when I turned this into the postmaster.


At that moment, I decided to start the blog TODAY. What am I waiting for? There is a story to be told. I chose the picture of the dandelion seed as a symbol for this page. I'll probably never know what will happen (if anything) as a result of this project, but I'm hoping some of the ideas will get picked up and carried off. I wonder how far they will go.

Kind Regards,
Your Neighbor