21-Day Kindness Project: Day 3
Bring Beauty to Your Neighborhood, or Some Small Corner of the World:
Kindness can be shown in so many ways, and sometimes the smallest things can bring warmth and a smile to others. As small as this might seem, lifting someone’s mood with beauty can be a powerful act for changing their day.
So today, think about bringing more beauty to your community, or an individual. If you are feeling community minded, you could plant flowers or a tree in a common public space for all to enjoy, or plant some daffodil bulbs in your local park that will go unseen until they surprise people with their blooms popping up in Spring. (Tip: daffodils are one of the few types of bulbs that squirrels avoid and will not dig up for a fall or winter snack). You might put a vase of flowers from your garden with a free sign out on your parking strip for a passerby to take home and enjoy, or mow the lawn or rake leaves in a neighbor’s yard. Or decorate a tree outside your house near the sidewalk and invite the children in the neighborhood to hang their own special decorations. It could be a feather, an old small toy, a paper cut-out, or a special treasure. Impromptu giving trees can be charming and a place that draws others to walk by to enjoy seeing the beauty that giving creates.
Clean public spaces are something we often take for granted and leave for others to look after. But you could take a trash bag on your daily walk at a park or beach and pick up stray litter as you go, or do some impromptu weeding at your neighborhood center, church or other community space. In this way you are also not only giving to your community, but also giving kindness to the earth herself. Work that benefits our community honors the importance of place and acknowledges our connection with those around us.
If there is an individual that you want to cheer up, either someone you know or a stranger, giving flowers is always heart warming, or a piece of original art. You may think a hand drawn card is simple, but they often end up treasures that are kept by the receiver for years.
Sharing beauty is a way of spreading love to others. Whatever you choose to do, your act of kindness today will draw you deeper into awareness of the quiet power of beauty that surrounds you everywhere.
