Tag Archives: kindness

Thank you, next.

It’s crazy to think that my undergraduate career is wrapping up within the next couple of weeks. It’s been five years of blood, sweat, and tears, but looking back on it now, it was so worth it. I have learned many life skills that were beyond my major, gained valuable knowledge on Elementary education (my major), and acquired so many wonderful memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Saying that though, I am beyond ready to move on and see what is next to come in my life! In the words of Ariana Grande, time to say “thank you, next” to SFU and my bachelor’s degree!

I do want to shout out this class, PUB (Publishing) 101, as one of my favourite classes I’ve taken at SFU. I truly appreciate the course designers who believed students’ work is worthy and valuable enough to be put out there and read by the public, as well as taken seriously by academics. Creating work that will not only be read and critiqued by our professors and TA’s, but the public via the Internet, gives our work a sense of greater purpose than simply for a grade. So thank you, Suzanne and Ellen, for believing in us and recognizing that students’ voices deserve to be heard not just within the four walls of our classrooms, but for everyone to hear as what we have to say is valuable. I never thought I would ever write a blog, until I took this class, and now I have discovered that my voice matters too. šŸ™‚

I created this blog in hopes of spreading kindness and encouraging people to practice empathy for others. If I have inspired at least one person to spread kindness in someone’s life, then I have achieved my goal! I truly believe kindness as a ripple effect, as demonstrated in this comic I stumbled upon on Facebook:

Image from: 4amshower

I plan on continuing my blog past this course, however I am going to take a well needed break for a little while! I’m not sure how long it will be, but I definitely want to continue writing and putting my thoughts on the Internet. Even if no one reads, I’ve discovered it’s a cathartic way of organizing my thoughts and figuring out my stance on big issues, as well as a venting outlet, and who doesn’t like venting. šŸ™‚

Always remember that everyone is just doing their best in this big, wide, weird world and that we’re all humans who crave love and belonging. Be the positive light in someone’s day, the answered prayer, the spark of joy. Let’s all change the world, one act of kindness at a time!

What do you want to be remembered for?

About a year ago I came across a girl on YouTube named Claire Wineland. She was 21 year old girl with cystic fibrosis who documented the ups and downs of her journey living with this disease on YouTube. I watched a couple of her videos and thought that she was an incredible girl, but didn’t keep up with her past those couple of videos. Then, in September of 2018, I heard she had died one week after receiving her long awaited lung transplant. In sad situations like these where life doesn’t make sense or seem fair, I tend to try and forget about the story to save myself from heartbreak. However recently, I came across Claire again amongst my recommended videos on YouTube. Her video was a part of a series called My Last Days produced by Justin Baldoni. Justin created this series to find out and share the unique perspectives of life from people who are dying. A more detailed description of his series can be found here.

I watched Claire’s episode, Meet Claire, Finding Beauty in the Sadness, and what she said brought me to full blown tears, “you don’t need to know you’re dying to start living.” Something so simple that essentially everyone knows, but so many people forget to put into practice; myself included. We all get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that we often forget what a gift each day truly is; that each day is a new opportunity for us to make a positive impact in the world.

Hearing Claire say this lead me to reflect on what I want to be remembered for during this little life of mine. The fact of the matter is, we all have an expiration date and none of us know when it is. So I asked myself, “if I die tomorrow, what will I be remembered for?” I can only hope that I will be remembered for how I made others feel. In my 23 years of life, I hope I’ve made the people I’ve crossed paths with feel as though they are loved for exactly who they are and that they are innately deserving of love and belonging. I also hope I’m remembered for actively spreading and practicing kindness, as that is a daily goal of mine. Claire said that we have no control over when we die, however we do have control over creating a life that we’re proud of, and at this point, I will say that I am proud of my life. That doesn’t mean I don’t have room for improvement though because I always will! I feel as though we tell ourselves that we’ll have time to create this life we’ll be proud of someday. We tell ourselves that we’ll start doing things when we have the money and time. But how do we know we will have this time? Since Claire new roughly when her expiry date was (which not many of us do), it was obvious through the way she spoke how much she saw every day as a gift and was actively making the most out of every second she’d been given.

What if we all lived like we were dying tomorrow, like Claire did? What would you do differently? How would you treat others differently? I know this is a short blog this week, but really, it all boils down to one question: what do you want to be remembered for?

Rest in peace, Claire Wineland. Thank you for dedicating your life to serving others and teaching me how to treat every day as the gift it truly is. You are an inspiration to all of us.

Image from: AARC

If you would like to donate or find out more about Claire’s Place Foundation, you can check out the website here.

Peer Review ā€“ 3

This week, I am reviewing Meganā€™s blog, the Kindness Lifestyle, a space created for reflecting, sharing and discovering the ways in which people can spread kindness throughout their daily encounters and lives. As weā€™ve continued to move through the reviews of othersā€™ creations, as well as my own, Iā€™ve found it helpful to compartmentalize my observations and ideas into subtopics as follows; design, function, content and overall impression. For this review, I will adopt and utilize this framework from a marketing perspective.

Design:

Upon immediate landing on Meganā€™s homepage, the Kindness Lifestyle is captivating and peaceful. Prior to delving into this review, I must admit, Meganā€™s blog has been an inspiration from the commencement of this course and I have been impressed with her ability to take challenging and polarizing issues like veganism and God and present them in a manner that is approachable and balanced.

I feel that Megan achieves this sense of equilibrium and inclusion via subtle, simple and controlled elements of design directed at user experience that Maria Popova in Bleymaierā€™s (2013) article suggests is in her readersā€™ best interests. The soft spectrum of colors highlights a feel of authentic and genuine kindness, with a simple and elegant font that softens each issue. The blog is not a confrontational ā€˜in your faceā€™ place, but rather an ecosystem of food for thinking that begins to unravel enlightened perspectives. I feel that this degree of openness and neutrality supports the blogs bounce rate, which was discussed in the guest lecture by Monique Sherrett, which is elaborated on here.

I appreciate Meganā€™s logo; it is creative, welcoming, and without words, does an excellent job of reflecting what her blog is about; being kind. I like that this, as well as the color scheme is carried throughout each page, as it allows for easy navigation and access to content. In terms of font, I really like the titles ā€œwelcomeā€ and ā€œthings to read,ā€ as these have a personalized feel that evokes a feeling that Megan writes this blog for you. The photography on this blog is relevant and playful, reminding me of the first weekā€™s reading by Craig Mod, ā€œHow I got My Attention Back,ā€ where he notes, ā€œthe quieter my mind became, and the deeper I went into my own work, the more I realized how my always-on, always-connected state had rendered me largely uselessā€ (2017). Meganā€™s blog reinforces this consciousness of being in the present, which for me, is helpful and contributive to wanting to be kind.

I would consider one element of change in terms of design that could very well be a personal preference; however, I feel that under ā€œThings to Readā€ on the main page, I would like to see the pictures posted at the same level. While I sometimes enjoy the contrast of things being off-centered, it throws me off here, and gives me the slight, yet incorrect perspective that the right side, Academics, is of greater value.

Function:

I truly appreciate the functional aspect of this blog, as it is easy to navigate, flows nicely across the page and is rather intuitive. There is an element of predictability in how it looks and feels, which leaves the content to present itself as refreshing and novel. Items are easy to locate, and with the content space carrying through the larger images on the page, the writing is locatable and takes centre stage as you scroll.

I appreciate the drop down menu on ā€œacademicsā€ and unlike some blogs, this feels organic, not forced, which reiterates the overall feel of the site. Likewise, the predictable nature of functional aspects of the blog, such as the title, easily get you to where you wish go. I would prefer for the word, ā€œblogā€ to be an actual link, because it takes a little more accuracy to hit ā€œhave a read,ā€ but overall, itā€™s excellent.

Content:

Meganā€™s writing is elegant, honest, insightful and contemplative, which for me is what I wish to see on a blog. In class, Trevor Battye discussed the importance of providing a blog that is unique, as in a saturated online world with opinions, photos and articles, being one of a kind or at least, one of a few helps to generate the marketing potential of oneself. ā€˜Detailedā€™ looks at some of these unique blogs here. For Megan, her topic is extremely timely, as in the age of cyberbullying and Trumped-up racism, stereotyping and hate, a little kindness is a fresh and needed concept. I particularly enjoy her blog on Emoto, which you can digest here, as well as this candid writing she did on Dr. Brene Brown.

Meganā€™s content is memorable, and because itā€™s so unique, it could benefit from some greater hashtagging. I think that there is some specific language being employed, so highlighting this with hashtags would be beneficial for readers and marketing the true depth of her content. For instance, ā€œEmotoā€ would be a good start.

Overall:

Meganā€™s blog is a fascinating expose on being kind. One would think that this is not necessarily something that needs to be blogged about, but when you consider the relevance and importance of such actions and attitudes, a blog is important, engaging and actually quite useful in finding inner and outwards happiness. From a marketing perspective, Megan provides an excellent product; it is consistent, novel, engaging, easy to understand and negates an instant departure through providing stunning images and inquisitive writing.

Water you talking about?!

My dear friend Rosa (who also has blog!) recently recommended me to read a book called, TheĀ HiddenĀ MessagesĀ inĀ Water by Masaru Emoto. She explained to me how Emoto is a Japanese scientist who discovered that the molecules of water are effected by our thoughts, words, and feelings. Essentially, his research involves saying different phrases and playing different kinds of music to water, then freezing that water and analyzing the kinds of crystals the it forms. I know… sounds crazy but bare with me. I made a mini resolution at the beginning of this year that I would read more books, but also read books that I would never think about reading. Following our conversation, I immediately ordered the book on Amazon and had it in my hands within a couple of days. Little did I know the magnitude to which this book would blow my mind.

As I explain Emoto’s work, it will slowly start to make sense how this relates to kindness. For over a decade now, Emoto has been taking pictures of frozen ice crystals. He began taking these pictures when he noticed in his research that water “expresses itself in a vast variety of ways” (p. ix). As he was taking these pictures, he researched why certain types of water created certain kinds of crystals, and that’s when he started experimenting with saying different phrases and playing different kinds of music to liquid water then freezing it to see what kinds of crystals it makes. His findings were absolutely remarkable.

Below are pictures of frozen water crystals when he had a group of children say “you’re beautiful” a few times and several times to two different cups of water. The third cup was ignored completely.

Image from: The Hidden Messages in Water (page 14)

Next are a series of pictures he took when people said “thank you” in various languages to different cups of water. As he notes in his book, they all resulted in crystals that were “beautiful and complete”.

Image from: The Hidden Messages in Water (page 7)

Finally, when words and phrases that indicated harm were spoken to cups of water, no crystals formed at all.

Image from: The Hidden Messages in Water (page 8)

You may be catching on now to how this all relates to kindness. However, let me explain even further. Emoto discusses in his book that the average human body is made up of 70% water. Based on his research then, the things that are said to us have a significant impact on our bodies and minds, as water absorbs the energy and vibrations from those words. He says that the key to living a happy and healthy life is to “purify the water that makes up 70 percent of your body” (p. xvi).

It’s quite evident that a huge part of kindness is how we speak to other people. We are taught from a young age that “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me,” however I think we’ve gotten that wrong. Sure, we can brush off negative things people say to us, but based on Emoto’s research, those words do effect us at a molecular level. I believe this quote from his book sums up how his research relates to kindness beautifully:

“In Japan, it is said that words of the soul reside in a spirit called kotodama or the spirit of words, and the act of speaking words has the power to change the world. We all know that words have an enormous influence on the way we think and feel, and that things generally go more smoothly when positive words are used. However, up until now we have never been able to physically see the effect of positive words” (p. xxvi).

Thank you, Masaru Emoto, for showing us the physical effect of words through the magic of water! For the sake of the water in us, go speak kindness and love into someone’s life today. šŸ™‚