Hi friends,
Kindness doesn’t always solve our problems, but it can sustain us. It might soften our problems just enough for us to keep going. It says, “You matter,” without saying anything at all. Often, I find that witnessing, receiving, or giving a random act of kindness gives me lots of energy.
For me, kindness tends to show up in unremarkable moments, like a flight employee checking suitcases who paused, looked each passenger in the eye, and said, “Merry Christmas. Happy holidays.” It was genuine, not rushed or robotic. It took an extra second or two, and somehow it changed the temperature of the room before a recent flight.
Another time, a few weeks ago, a friend dropped off fresh baked goods from Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. There was no occasion or explanation. He did, as he usually does these kind acts, just because. He didn’t really make a point of it — he simply dropped them off at our door and that of Ally’s 94-year-old grandmother.
I asked neighbors in my community and friends on Facebook about kindness acts they remember most. I also asked the Inner Peace community to share moments when kindness made a difference, even in small ways.
What came back was touching and human. People showing up with food, time, patience, and presence. Strangers stepping in when someone didn’t know what else to do. Neighbors noticing and acting, without being asked.
The stories below are about the moments that remind us we’re not carrying everything alone. Here are a few that stayed with me.
A neighborhood that shows up
For the past four years, a neighbor pointed out that our neighborhood has turned up for people and families in practical ways: gifting clothes and household items to a foster teen aging out of care, delivering formula during the shortage, helping a grandmother and her grandson rebuild after a fire, and supporting an unhoused young man trying to get into a program that led to a job.
“He got the job and is doing well,” she said.
She also mentioned how when a friend couldn’t make it to her mother’s doctor appointment, a neighbor stepped in and stayed to help clarify a frightening medical situation.
“I could go on with so many stories… and the world seems so much better.”
Food during Covid
A nurse remembers the worst days of the pandemic.
“The community chipped in and sent us food. It was the kindest act and it was so appreciated.”
Snow shovels
Sometimes kindness is small and constant.
“My neighbors shovel my sidewalk and driveway of snow before I’m up,” a neighbor said. “I am eternally grateful.”
Simply checking in
Said one reader: “My neighbor across the hall always asks if I'm doing OK — during COVID or in bad weather. First, it made me feel old, but it's just a nice gesture.”
Cancer and hope
Other times, kindness shows up in moments of desperation.
A mother reached out, not knowing what else to do for her daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, who has stage 4 cancer. She needed to do something. She needed her daughter to know she wasn’t alone, that this wasn’t a helpless situation.
A GoFundMe was set up. The community responded.
Donations came in. Cards arrived. Messages of encouragement followed.
“She felt seen and heard,” her mother wrote.
Two years of surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, physical therapy, and everything that comes with cancer treatment had taken their toll. The financial strain was real. The exhaustion was real.
“For just a moment,” she said, “the financial struggle was lifted.”
They were transplants from Louisiana. After this, New York felt like home.
“It wasn’t all about the money,” she added. “It was that you showed up. You rolled up your sleeves and said, ‘Let’s do this.’”
Not alone
One of my favorite stories from the neighborhood involves a stray cat they named Dexter.
He appeared quietly, was fed, named, sheltered, and loved. He stayed outdoors by choice, wandering fences and rooftops, content. When the woman who cared for him lost her mother, he appeared on her front stoop that night.
“As if to let me know I wasn’t alone.”
Celebrate your gifts,
Matthew
