18th ANNUAL - IT'S KINDNESS WEEK in MOORESTOWN, NJ !!

It’s Kindness Week in Moorestown, New Jersey. Eighteenth Annual.

Who says so?!!

Town Council – and Mayor Stacey Jordan – by Proclamation at Monday’s Council Meeting.

The purpose as you might guess is not to say that THIS is the only week to be kind and not some other time.  Rather, it serves as a reminder of how wonderful it feels for the giver the receiver – AND any observers – when we come from our hearts from the best within us as we relate to one another, our circumstances, and ourselves.  (It even enhances our health – on multiple levels.)

By focusing on this one particular week we reinforce our awareness of how very simple it is to pause and choose kindness. Piero Ferrucci, in his wonderful book, The Power of Kindness, illuminates many facets of Kindness, among them : Honesty, Warmth, Forgiveness, Sense of Belonging, Trust, Mindfulness...

Qualities such as these inspire in me a desire to belong. You too?! Since a community reflects the ways of its members, with mindfulness and practice, kindness becomes a natural way of being in community.

I delight in a new, personal example of kindness. My younger daughter Ellen, now a mother herself, hosted a Valentine's Party on Sunday afternoon for her 2 year old, Sofia, five of Sofia’s little friends, and their moms. They had a WONDERFUL time. Ellen shared with me that she is sure she got her love of Valentine's Day, kindness, (and photography!) from me. It warmed my heart to hear that and to witness the kindness that seems to come so naturally from Sofia.

 While at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia in November, after a carousel ride, I observed from afar as Sofia stood patiently and held the gate for everyone who exited the ride after her. What had her do that? More than likely, she held the gate because she has seen the kindness of her parents and others. And it had already become a natural thing for her to do - at the age of 2.  Empowering, uplifting ways of being develop so very early.... Ahhhh.   (AND – if they haven’t, it is never too late to begin anew !)

Today’s quote in the Random Acts of Kindness Universe calendar is from Walt Whitman, who said, “I am larger, better than I thought.  I did not know I held so much goodness.”

Thanks, Walt, for the reminder that you held – and every one of us holds - an astounding amount of goodness inside.  Fostering a climate in Moorestown in which that goodness is revealed all the more is what Moorestown’s Kindness Week is all about. 

 Won’t you please join  in ?!!  You’re encouraged to act with kindness this week in an intentional way that goes beyond your usual thoughtfulness. In so doing you are sure to remind yourself, yet again, how great it feels.  Please share right here at Moorestown Patch what inspires YOU !!

In partnership for a kind and peaceful world,

Holly Myers