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Not that long ago, everyone was talking about random acts of kindness, which became a sort of trend, unfortunately – blaring into the spotlight and then just fading away. Like most of our fads, when we don’t hear (endlessly) about them anymore, we think that they’re over, and in the case of kindness, it’s no longer worth worrying about (except on National Random Act of Kindness Day, which is apparently on February 17, or World Kindness Day on November 13).

But kindness is timeless, not limited to a day or a movement, and the beautiful thing about it is that it is so easily done, often at no or little monetary cost to the person being kind. Kindness is something anyone can do – you don’t have to be rich or famous or powerful, and indeed, the more ordinary we are, the more we appreciate kindness as the inestimable treasure that it is.

I painted Afternoon Tea Party as a celebration of goodness, simplicity, and kindness – if you have a child in your life, you know they come up to you at inopportune moments, with requests that take up the time we all find so limited. “A tea party? With water and crackers? And we’re being joined by a pink bear?”

Why not? It is an act of kindness to not only take the time, but to do so graciously, humbling ourselves as we enter the world of the child to discover what they see, respecting their personhood in the process. As we slow down our hectic pace, and truly listen to the requests made to us throughout the day, we’ll find that being kind has the potential to become a natural way of acting. It is a personality element well worth nurturing.

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Afternoon Tea Party by Steve Henderson