The joy of talking about kindness
- Sarah Browning
- Jun 4
- 3 min read
Talking to people about kindness is a joy! Every time I do it, I realise just how much fun I’m having and how much it makes me smile.
Over the last few years, Team Time for Kindness and I have taken part in community events, such as the University of Reading’s Community Festival and a mental health conference.
At these events we run an activity called ‘Building a Wall of Kindness: Share Your Story’. We ask visitors to tell us about acts of kindness they have received, given or witnessed. We invite them to record their story in words or pictures.
During the events we have so many fantastic, uplifting conversations. Some people have been on the receiving end of a kind act and others have done something kind themselves. Over the years we’ve heard about all sorts of kindness such as:
A student whose umbrella broke in the rain and a passing stranger gave her an umbrella to use for the rest of her journey home
A child who helped her friend when she fell over in the playground at school
A housemate who does the washing up when their friend has to work late
A thoughtful cleaner at the hospital who bought chocolate for someone who was waiting for their young nephew while he had a heart operation
By the end of the event day we often have 50+ drawings and post-it notes displayed on our wall of kindness.
What I notice
Every time we do an event like this, I notice how positively it affects me, my team and the people we have conversations with. As I reflect on these experiences, three things in particular jump out at me:
1.Telling positive stories comes with an energy that inspires others.
Time and again people say ‘We need positive conversations like this’. As they speak, their eyes light up and they smile and laugh. They talk about feeling connections through kindness and as a result we feel connected to each other too.
Our stall has a pop-up banner with a few example stories on it. Visitors stop to read it and that sparks memories of their own positive experiences. It’s a virtuous circle of reading something that makes them smile, followed by adding something to the board for others to be inspired by.
2.Offering different ways to share stories opens up the activity and gives people a starting point.
We encourage people to share with us through conversations, drawing pictures and writing down their key points. Some people get stuck in straightaway, sitting down with paper and pencils to draw a picture. Others prefer to talk with a member of Team Time for Kindness first.
Whichever method they choose, the outcome is the same – they share their story and we all feel uplifted as a result.
3.Children are prepared to describe themselves in ways that adults aren’t.
We regularly hear from kids whose story of kindness is about things they have done themselves. I remember one little girl who was particularly proud of herself (and rightly so). When I told her that we were collecting stories of kind people and asked if she knew any, without hesitation she said “Yes – me!”
It’s really refreshing to be having conversations with people who aren’t embarrassed about recognising themselves as kind. I would love it if we can one day get to a place where adults are proud to describe themselves as kind too and not feel that it is somehow showing off or, worse, revealing weakness!
And finally
There are now a lot of academic studies that show how powerful kindness is and what a positive impact it has on us, individually and collectively.
If you get into the habit of noticing more kindness in the world around you, it will give you a positive, hop eful boost. And my experiences with my Time for Kindness programme have shown me how joyful it is to talk about kindness, so I’d encourage you to try that too.
If something brings you joy, others will react positively to you talking about it and sharing your excitement. So find your joy and do it more!
Want more kindness in your life? Check out the Time for Kindness programme website for stories of every day kindness and to find out about the workshops and talks we offer.
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