I used to think that kindness was about small gestures or doing someone a favour, like opening doors, listening when people talk about their day… maybe even a smile towards people as they pass on the street. However, by being a part of the Kindness Project, I realised that kindness is not always a matter of small gestures or favours. The project involved creating a campaign and developing resources to promote kindness. This taught me that kindness can also involve standing up for people, setting up safe spaces for them, or taking the time to listen deeply and genuinely care about what people are going through.

Essentially, my thoughts on kindness have gone from an everyday gesture that I didn’t think about much to considering it a genuine and powerful force. It is a way of creating trust and creating real change within the beautiful world we live in.

Throughout the project, I had the opportunity to express my ideas in many different ways, through meetings, Miro boards, and even pieces like these. Every time I had a chance to share, I had to think about what kindness really is, instead of looking at it from a surface level, which led to the realisation of how small gestures can add up to a big culture of kindness. It’s not a one-time gesture that you don’t think about, but a culture where kindness multiplies itself and spreads across the world. This is the change, creating a culture where people are valued, heard, and inspired to continue passing on kindness.

The Kindness Project has certainly changed the way I perceive the world. I can now recognise times where tiny acts of kindness happen in day-to-day life, but I can also see their larger impact in creating communities and a healthy culture. It helped make me not only mindful of my own nature, but also mindful of the way I can be part of wider awareness.

Now, I make an effort daily where I look for situations where I can be kind, regardless of the magnitude of my actions, as I know that they are part of something bigger. My favourite saying is, “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” Kindness is not only something you spread to the world, but a sense of a connection, of a feeling of inspiration and of hope, too. It’s something we can all do, and together, I truly believe we can make a difference in the way we look at and contribute to the world.