Yesterday over on our Facebook Page we received an update from Geri, the Activities Coordinator who has been our connection to the residents throughout the project. Have a read and if you have a minute, why not send a letter, a postcard from your summer vacation, or even an email to say hello to the residents!

Geri says:

Thank you all for sending us a card at Christmas. I apologize that it took so long for me to get back to you. We have been very active here and overwhelmed by people’s generosity. The resident’s got together and created thank you cards. However, it was then up to me to match the names with the addresses. We received over 400 cards and the task became a little more difficult.

We are happy that the winter is now over and we are able to go on the patio again. We have a lake here too with two swans and lots of geese. Everyone enjoys the feeling of the wind and the smells of spring. We have many activities planned for the summer. We are having a family day with a circus theme. We also go on bus outings once a month. This month we are going to the Botanic Gardens. We enjoy going out for breakfast the most!

Everyone is very happy here and we keep very busy with activities. Singing, bingo, parties, music, concerts, trivia, and lectures. It is hard to stay in our rooms with so much going on. Today is the ice cream social!

Men’s club is once a month. The chef prepares a wonderful dinner for us. Only for the men! This month we are celebrating the Kentucky Derby.

Please feel free to email us and we will answer back. You can send cards to because we feel very special when we receive cards and letters.

Thank you again for taking time to write us. Our email address is
gwozniak@presbyterianhomes.org
Geri Wozniak
c/o The Moorings of Arlington Hts
761 Old Barn Lane
Arlington Hts, IL 60005

This summer I won’t be taking on a large physical challenge but I’m eyeing another. The TriAdventure happens August 16-18 and includes a 3KM swim or 15 KM run, a 15 KM Canoe, and a 140 KM bike ride all over the course of three days. There’s no way I can adequately train for that in time to leave this year, but I’m going anyway – this time as a volunteer crew member. I’ll be watching to see if it is something I think I can manage. If so, I’ll do it in a year or two. I expect I will feel like a kid at the edge of the playground, watching the bigger kids playing and building up the courage to go play with them myself.

So what is this all for? This benefits the Nikibasika Development Program – a home for 51 vulnerable children in Kasese, Uganda who have been left without family support through poverty, HIV/AIDS or violence. This event has become these kids’ primary source of funding for a program that begins with food, shelter and education and aims to help them become self-sustaining citizens who contribute to a vibrant, diverse global community.

So you’ll see me in August, quite possibly in costume, cheering on the big kids and gearing up the courage to join them. In the meantime, your sponsorship is very much appreciated, and will benefit the folks at Nikibasika. Because the Nikibasika Development Program is a registered Canadian charity, you’ll receive a tax receipt for your pledge.

Make your pledge here.

The project really moved me as well. One can’t spend two years seeing people performing selfless acts of kindness of all sorts without changing your perspective about the nature of humanity. We’re surrounded by amazing people. A look at the newspaper may give you the idea that the world is filled mostly with selfish, greedy people. In two years I feel like I’ve been able to see an entirely different world from that.

As to what’s next? I have to say that I don’t really know. I feel, in part, I may have to let go of this before the next project will reveal itself to me. And meanwhile, I have a lot of things going on. I’ll be continuing to be a volunteer adult literacy tutor. A few months ago I began taking Hindi lessons from a man almost 50 years my senior and I hope someday to speak well enough that I can feel comfortable speaking it on a trip to India – perhaps even a bike trip. And I really want to connect to my own community more – to work at the food co-op, to grow food in the community garden, to connect with my neighbours and friends. And when the inspiration hits, it may be time for another big project.
And as for Daegan and I, well, the greatest gift this project gave me was my connection with my son. I’d like to say that our 25 day journey last summer was a “once in a lifetime” experience, but hopefully it won’t be. We’ll still be traveling together – possibly by tandem bicycle again, possibly not. The destination and means of travel are to be determined.

Thank you all for your support – for making pledges, for sharing your homes with me, for inspiring me, and for letting me share my own journey with you.

A few years ago I got a first hand illustration of how local economy works. I was at my neighbourhood bike shop, paying for some repairs. As my debit payment cleared, the owner and I started talking and he began to tell me about how much he enjoyed eating at the cafe next door. This cafe next door serves locally-roasted coffee and locally-baked pastries. And at that moment I grasped why supporting your economy by buying locally matters so much.

Think of it like a water cycle. My money came from outside the province and was like rain bringing money into the small local reservoir of my bank account. Now I can choose what to do with that reservoir. I can order a bunch of things online, and pump it directly back out of the area. Or, I can buy locally and contribute to the local aquifer. The money I spent at the bike shop would flow to the cafe, nourishing its employees and flowing to their local vendors and to their employees, and possibly to some more local vendors. Up until this point I only saw money as something that went from point A (my pocket) to point B (someone else’s pocket). But this wasn’t true. At this point I had an image of an entire local area being “watered” by outside money and that money serving as many people as it could before eventually leaving the area to nourish other areas by paying for things we couldn’t get from here. Since then I’ve tried to be conscious of how we spend our money, choosing local options whenever I can.

“But Todd, this project is about Kindness. I know that supporting your neighbours is nice, but what does this have to do with kindness?

Pretty much everything. Money isn’t the only thing that works this way. Food webs have worked this way as long as there has been life, after all. And, I realized recently, kindness works this way as well.

Your kindness enriches those around you. Sharing it locally makes those around you happier, and those people distribute it and they make other people happier. One person’s kindness, properly multiplied, can change the world.

So where does the “Kindness Economy” start? With you, of course. Get out there, do something nice for someone and enrich your neighbourhood and world. And if someone is kind to you – pay it forward. With interest.

Todd and Daegan one week into the 2012 ride

In 2012, I (Todd O’Reilly) and my 13 year old son, Daegan, rode a tandem bicycle 1,500 kilometres from Toronto, Canada to Ottawa then over to Montreal and then down through Vermont to New York City. It was a charity ride – but no money changed hands. This is because the charity we were riding for was 500 Kindnesses (http://www.500kindnesses.com), a charity whose purpose is to raise pledges of acts of kindness. In the lead up to their trip, supporters pledged hundreds of different things including:

• Donating toys to charity
• Suprising a friend with a homemade lunch
• Bringing hand-knit caps to a hospital birth centre
• Paying for the people behind them at a coffee shop
• Visiting a newly widowed neighbour once a week
• Mowing two neighbour’s yards as a surprise
• Donating books to children in Havana

At the end of our 25 day journey, we donated our tandem bicycle to Achilles International in New York City where it is being used in a program that pairs up sighted riders with blind or visually-impaired athletes who can ride as stoker on the bike.

This year we are continuing the project and have raised 1,023 acts of kindness so far. We plan to ride again starting June 30. But we’re missing one important part. We’re looking for a new tandem bike to replace the one we donated. And we’d like your help. Tandem bicycles are not always easy to find, and come in differing sizes so not all of them will work for us – even the one we rode last summer would likely no longer fit Daegan who grew like a weed in the past year.

So here’s what we’re looking for:

•  Sturdy multi-speed tandem bike suitable for touring. That means at least 3 braze-ons for water bottle cages, and the ability to install front and rear racks.
• In good repair and of quality workmanship such that it is capable of doing 1,500-2,500 km with major failure unlikely.
• Because some of the ride uses trails, being able to install 1.5″ tires is a huge plus
• Daegan and I are both about 6 feet tall so both captain and stoker positions need to be large enough to accomodate us.
• Ideally the bike would be close enough to Toronto that we could get a good test ride in and easily get it back home to Toronto.
• All told, including any shipping (which we hopefully don’t have to deal with) we can spend about $2,500.

So we’re asking you to keep your eyes open for us. Do you have a tandem bicycle in your garage that you haven’t used in a while? Does your neighbour? Do you have a friend who has one? Put us in touch and we’ll be eternally grateful.

Thanks so much!

Just a quick note to let everyone know – for speedier posting of pledges they will now be posted directly to our Facebook group with the ticker updated here. If you haven’t already liked the page, now is a great time to do it.

And just a reminder – you can pledge as often as you like here, and $1 will be donated to the Toronto People with AIDS Foundation

Photo by Jay Cameron and used under Creative Commons License.

There are other opportunities that you can plan on and we’ve seen a number of pledges like that. The latest opportunity we all have to do this is, of course, to send Valentines day cards to The Moorings. I do these sorts of things, making pledges along with you here. But I don’t do as many of them as I’d like. I’m always glad when I do as they make me really happy.

A few weeks ago I decided to do another one of these. As it was just after Gratitude Week, I had gratitude very much on my mind. And as it is the middle of winter I am taking transit much more than I am riding my bike. I make no secret about how much I love transit, except in one case. Sure, I thank drivers when I leave a bus or streetcar, but do they really know how much I appreciate them? The time had come to remedy that.

And so it was that I found myself at 6:00 AM before my morning commute at a coffee shop buying five gift cards. Once I had purchased them, I took five little gift card holders and wrote in each one “Toronto appreciates its transit workers.” (Sure, many love to complain about the transit system, and some like to complain about the workers, but my experiences have been almost exclusively positive.) And so equipped, I headed down into the subway.

Card #1: 60 Steeles West Bus Driver

(Photo by Loozrboy under Creative Commons License)
It was a snowy morning, the kind of morning I used to dread back in the days when I used to own a car. Not enough snow to make people slow down but enough snow to make the roads treacherous. Yes, the buses can be a little slower, wetter, and a bit more packed on days like today, but they provide the distinct benefit of riding in a large vehicle that is relatively good in snow. And if there’s a fender bender in a bus, you just leave that bus behind and grab the next one. And the best part? While you’re on the way to work through snow and traffic, you’re reading a good book.

As we approached my bus stop, I got my first card out and made my way to the front of the bus. As I got off I turned to the serious 40 something man behind the wheel and said to him “Thank you for driving so I don’t have to.” It took a minute to register what I had given him but his serious demeanor had given way to a smile as he pulled away from the bus stop.

Card #2: Spadina Streetcar Attendant

(Photo by Daniel Lobo under Creative Commons License)
On this day I was in Chinatown buying the ingredients for a delicious Thai meal I had planned. I didn’t really want to go, though, as it was about -15C and felt like -25C with the windchill but I knew I’d be glad when we were all eating the red curry chicken that I made. Leaving the store, I went to wait for the streetcar. Most streetcars board only through the front door with passengers paying their fare to the driver or showing their transit passes. However, on some particularly busy routes like this one, they will have one worker stand at the stop and their whole purpose is to go to the back door of the streetcar when it arrives and let people with passes board in the rear doors as well to speed things up. There in this horrible cold – the cold that I balked at walking outside in for the 5 minutes it would take to get between the streetcar and the store and back, was one of those attendants. He was about my age and was pretty well bundled up As the next streetcar approached I fumbled in my backpack for another card. I showed him my pass and then asked him “Have you been out here all day?” “Nah,” he said, “I’ve just been out here for five hours.” “Then you need this:” I said and handed him the card. “What’s this?” he asked and then followed it with a noise of surprise as I boarded the car bound for home and Thai food.

Card #3: Finch Washroom Cleaner

It appears that there are a good number of folks who make every effort to make subway washrooms as filthy and disgusting as possible. It was so bad that at one time, you could smell the washrooms throughout much of Finch subway station – even just as you got off the train downstairs. Fortunately, the TTC has spent a good deal of money renovating the washrooms for improved cleanability and they’ve vastly improved. Of course the fact that they’re easier to clean doesn’t mean that whomever does the cleaning doesn’t have to work hard because the folks who messed up the washrooms pre-renovation still come by, I’m sure. And so, last week I came up the escalator on the way to work and saw one of the janitors waiting outside the men’s room with a large roll of toilet paper in her hand, waiting for all of the men to leave the washroom so she could clean it. I walked over and told her thank you for all you do and handed her a card. Like all the others I’d given out before, this was initially received with confusion, but once it registered what it was she smiled back at me.

Card #4: Eglinton Washroom Cleaner

I often stop at Eglinton Station on the way to work as I’m generally not very good at eating breakfast before I leave home (I just am not ready to eat, not sure what that’s about) and so I stop there for a bagel. On this day I saw that another person was cleaning the washroom there as well and had left his bucket of cleaning supplies outside the washroom while he mopped inside. I left a card in the bucket and went on my way.

Card #5a: Customer Service Representative

With a daily ridership of over 2.5 million people and over 12,000 employees a transit system is bound to have some complaints. And so it was that late last week I made my way to Davisville Station where the TTC customer service office is. I walked up to the customer service counter and asked “Is this where one makes a complaint?” The man behind the counter confirmed that it was, indeed. And so I passed the card through the glass and told him that it must be a really difficult job and I appreciate that he does it. Unfortunately, though, he couldn’t accept the card as he was not allowed to accept things from customers. He did thank me for the good thoughts though.

Card 5b: Fare Collector

(Photo by Neal Jennings under Creative Commons License)
Fare collectors have the opportunity to be extremely helpful throughout their day. In addition to selling tickets/tokens and collecting fares, they do everything from give directions to getting help for people in distress in the station. At the same time, they have a high risk job – there have been a few pretty horrible robberies at fare booths. Knowing now that they weren’t really allowed to accept gifts from customers, and seeing an empty fare collector’s booth with a sign like the one above in it, I slid the last card through the mostly-closed opening into the booth and went on my way.

Another unexpected side effect of this project also came to light. The past several weeks have been really stressful for a number of reasons. I’ve been doing a lot of the things people suggest doing when under stress, going to spin classes and getting on my bike when the roads are clear, eating right, and doing relaxation exercises. But each one of these little gestures acted as something of a reset. I would do one and would be so glad to have made someone happy that for a while the stress evaporated and the things that were creating the stress seemed to lose their significance. It is an important reminder that kindness doesn’t just benefit the recipient.

Acts of Kindness Pledged: Here in our little town in northern VT, the town crew clears the walks when it snows, but the little bobcat machine leaves some snow/ice around the edges, and water dripping from the roof often freezes into ice before the next time they come by and salt. It is not unheard of for me to do a little ‘extra maintenance’ in between their visits.

Yesterday, as I scraped the icy slop from the sidewalk in front of our little mom and pop video shop, an elderly (but still very spry and outgoing) friend paused, after nodding hello in passing, doubled back and, looking me in the eye, smiled and said, “I just wanted to tell you how kind I think you are to keep the sidewalk clear like this, Mary, so people like me can feel safe walking by. It really means a lot.” I found myself feeling kind of self-conscious at the intensity of his expression of gratitude and joked, “Well, it’s not JUST for ‘people like you’, you know. I don’t care to slip and fall either!” He chuckled, but insisted, “There, and you won’t even let me feel ‘old’ and ‘alone’, while you helped me. That is very nice of you.”

That expression of gratitude, so lovingly made, has caused me to decide to ‘pledge’ to keep clearing and sanding the sidewalk, even if (as has sometimes happened) people tell me things like, “That’s what the town crew is for”, etc.

At the same time, I intended to remember to thank the guys from the crew, who do that and so much more every day and, in so doing, care for the WHOLE town! Pledge #1009, Hardwick, VT, USA

Make your pledge here!

photo Martin Male

Acts of Kindness Pledged:
1) Send a Valentines Card to the residents of “Moorings of Arlington Heights”. Hope it gets there on time & thanks for this wonderful idea.
2) Bring goodies in to my co-workers.
3) Clean my closet and donate clothes to local charity thrift shop.
Pledges #1006-1008, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

photo Timothy Valentine

In late November, we encouraged readers to send holiday cards to residents of The Moorings of Arlington Heights, a retirement community in Illinois who supported our ride last summer with well wishes and dozens of acts of kindness pledged as we pedaled and sweated our way across the Northeast on the way to New York City. The results were amazing. The residents received over 400 cards from all around the world.

As the holidays fade behind us and the days start to get longer again, let’s not forget our friends in Illinois. Let’s send a note, a postcard, or a Valentine’s Day card to remind the residents that we’re still thinking of them. For those of you on Facebook, the event page is here. Please share this event widely with your friends.

Cards can be sent to:
Geri Wozniak
c/o The Moorings of Arlington Hts
761 Old Barn Lane
Arlington Hts IL 60005
USA

Photo: Valentines by elod beregszaszi used under creative commons license

In the mid 1980s, I was a very different person. Aside from the fact that I was fourteen, I had a pretty different focus in my life. Having skipped a grade, I was in grade ten, and at that point I had a pretty clear idea of where I was and where I needed to be. Where I was was a very small school in rural Vermont with limited offerings in terms of science and math coursework. I could clearly see where I needed to go at that point. I was going to be a doctor and to do this I needed to get out of this tiny school and into university where I could find some work that really challenged me. I looked at the requirements for graduation and saw that if I worked hard, I could take the last of the available science and math classes the next year and end up graduating two years early and get on with my life.

Fortunately, though, I had a teacher as an advisor who suggested that going away to university at age fifteen might not be the wisest choice. She had a different suggestion. Up until then, I had been single-minded in my course selection: I wanted things that got me closer to getting my MD. This meant math, science, and Latin. Other than that, I took only those courses that were required to graduate. Her suggestion was to try some other subjects, learn about new subjects I had never really explored and use that “extra” year to become what she described as a more well-rounded person. And so I took her advice: signing up for classes in drama, history, “Canadian Studies” (this will prove useful when I take my citizenship test!), environmental studies, drafting, and English Literature. I got involved in a volunteer group and another group of students whose goal was to prevent drug and alcohol abuse among teens. I did tech in a spring musical, and performed in a few one act plays.

Almost thirty years later I find myself in a very different spot than my fourteen year old self was planning for me. I did start university at sixteen, and admittedly even that was too early. I decided against medical school and instead ended up in the Biotechnology/Pharmaceutical industry. But I also have a passion for performing improv on stage, urban planning, social and political activism, cooking, and of course long distance cycling. This last one would likely be the biggest surprise to 14 year old me as I thought of PE class only as a waste of time and athletics as something that served only to divert money from the school’s academic budget.

Were it not for that one conversation, my life would have been less likely to have so many of the things in it that make me really happy today. This is something I’m grateful on a nearly daily basis.

And so it was that some time ago I found myself back in my home town after over 20 years of being away with the intent to find this teacher and let her know what a difference she made. As luck would have it, I didn’t have to look too hard as I ran into her accidentally. I told her all about the impression her words made on me and the difference it made in my everyday life. It felt really good to thank someone who made such a huge difference in my life. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to create a Facebook event to encourage others to share their gratitude with those who made a difference in their lives. 187 people joined me in sending out their gratitude to the people who made a difference in their lives. A few shared their gratitude with us on the event page:

I am grateful for my husband, family and friends that I have been so blessed with, where would I be without them, to share my joy and my sorrow. Thank you!

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I appreciate the people who made a difference in my life along the way. The teachers,the ministers,the people who would bring this poor Kentucky child a pair of pants or a pair of shoes from time to time,the people who took me up to Lexington when I was 5 years old and got me my first pair of glasses,which opened up a new world to me. I also thank those who took the time to tell me I had a bright future,so that now I can enjoy the blessing of giving to others,to bring them joy,and maybe make a difference in their lives as well.

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I did this a couple of months ago – I wrote to my high school English teacher back in England (Miss Clarke) to thank her for casting me in the school plays and for inspiring me with trips to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon where I eventually worked when I became a professional actor. I told her she was instrumental in giving me the confidence to pursue the career of my dreams. She sent me a lovely letter back sending lots of good wishes from my teachers and said “I’m convinced that whatever you’ve achieved, whether it was at school or beyond, you’ve achieved through your own efforts and talent.” She said lots of other nice things too, but I don’t want this post to be all about that. It’s a wonderful feeling to tell someone they really made a difference in your life. I’ll be sending another letter this week<

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I know the loveliest people, dogs and ponies on the planet and am joyfully grateful for all of em. And the ones that aren’t so nice, I figure they need more love, so I’m grateful for them helping me give more of that!

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I just thanked the lady who did this TED Talk, which I saw on a mutual friend’s facebook post, which inspired (& continues to inspire) me and others I know! She said it made her day! How cool is that!

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And as for me, I’d like to add another thank you to all of the others that were sent. Thank you all for supporting this project. Any time I feel the least bit sad or cynical, I need only look over all of the beautiful things you have done to know human beings are pretty lovely.

Photo by Kate Ware used under Creative Commons License.

The cards arrived from as far as Australia, New Zealand, Norway, The United Kingdom, Canada and from the U.S. states from coast to coast. One person requested the first names of all of the residents and sent personal cards to each one. Others sent YouTube videos of themselves singing Christmas songs. Another shared an ultrasound of their baby soon to arrive. Some sent lengthy letters with family photos and asked if anyone wanted a pen pal. They said they missed the relationship with older adults in their lives who were now gone and would be happy to begin a new relationship with one of The Moorings residents.

“The residents were astonished by whom and how far around the world their acts of kindness were noticed,” said Geri Wozniak, activities specialist at The Moorings. “We received cards from a class of autistic children, local schools, a Sunday school class and even one from a girl who lives at Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England. The residents were further touched that a group of busy staff at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles found a moment to send a Christmas photo and card.”

Every morning, the residents read the cards together “as a family.” They recorded from whom each card was sent and displayed them all around the activity room. Ms. Wozniak then organized residents to create return greeting cards to send back with personalized messages to those who had requested a pen pal. One of the messages received from an eighth grader in Stroudsburg, PA, read “To Angels on Earth. You truly are the example the world should follow. You’re a godsend, thank you for your help changing the way I think of life!"

At 500kindnesses.com Mr. O’Reilly posted his thanks to those who sent cards and said “An act of kindness doesn’t have to be huge or take a great deal of effort to make a huge difference people’s lives. A card sent, a smile or a hug given, a meal shared – these things, when lovingly performed can be truly significant to another person…”

He continued “Most importantly, it also illustrates the power of turning ideas into action. We’re all filled with amazing ideas, beautiful ideas, ideas that can do nothing short of change the world around us. But if we talk ourselves out of doing those ideas, find reasons that it won’t work, or won’t have the desired impact, then nothing will happen. In this case so many people … just did it.”

We’ve created a new event for everyone to work together on. This one was inspired by a card I received over the Christmas holiday.

I wouldn’t be where I am without the help and support of friends, teachers, family, and even some strangers who gave me support when I needed it. I’ve thanked many of them for this and as I did so, I was surprised to find out that many of them had no idea of the huge difference they made with what they thought were small acts.

So next week I’m encouraging you to share your thanks with someone who made a difference in your life. Send a card, a letter, a Facebook message, or meet them in person to let them know they made a difference in your life.

As always I’d like to share people’s experiences with this event, so feel free, if you are comfortable, to post the stories of how the people you are thanking helped you. Share them on the wall below or email them to me at todd@500kindnesses.com.

For those of you on Facebook, the event page is here. Please share it widely.

Photo by Kate Ware used under Creative Commons license.

Act of Kindness Pledged: I chauffeured the daughter of a bereaved friend for a couple of days this week. Today I took soup and OJ to my flu-ridden boyfriend. Pledge #818, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

photo Prima Vista

Act of Kindness Pledged: I have pledged for 2013 and onward to pay i forward in whatever way presents itself each and every day. So far some of the things that have come my way are knitting slippers for the library, offering free “treatment” sessions to those in need, giving healing crystals to someone and putting all my change (not just the pennies) in the box at Tim Horton’s so a kid can go to camp. Pledge #817, Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada

photo Andrew McMillan

Lately Daegan’s been grasping the idea that all water eventually goes to the ocean one way or another and has mentioned that he wants to walk down the creek here to the ocean. Kite and I talked about it quite a lot and realized that we could do just that with him. I told him “no” initially but we all realized that while it may be too early for us to plan a walk-straight-through trip with him from here to the Gulf of Mexico we can certainly walk it in stages with Sage picking us up and dropping us off as we do various bits a little at a time. As we get farther from home Daegan gets a bit older and more capable of the longer, overnight journeys that will be necessary later in the project.

Kite passed away some time ago but the idea has gone through my head off and on ever since then, coming back to me just a few days after deciding not to travel to the US this time. And I realize now that while we won’t be walking this time, we have a creek of our own, the Garrison Creek, now mostly buried, practically underneath our home. This creek empties into Lake Ontario which then drains into the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence River. And so we will go, over the top of Garrison Creek, down to the Lakeshore, and then along the shore until we get to the ocean which apparently starts somewhere not far past Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec. After that point, the jury is still out as to what way we will go. One potential direction is further down the river to Rimouski where we could pick up a boat to take us to the Quebec/Labrador border where we could pick up another ferry to take us to the Northwest part of Newfoundland and then ride across Newfoundland to St. John’s at the southeast corner. Another option would be to turn temporarily away from the river and go through New Brunswick toward the Bay of Fundy and then across to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. In either case it promises to be a very interesting and visually stunning ride.

In addition to doing a ride in memory of Kite, who was in very great part the inspiration for this project, I really like the metaphor of water as it relates to kindness. Because in reality any act of kindness we do is akin to a drop of water. On its own it seems small and its immediate effect may not be very notceable, but as more and more people begin to do them the more noticeable the effect. And just as a body of water can support a huge ship on it, and a river can carve out something as dramatic as the Grand Canyon, so too can simple kindnesses, performed in concert, change the world.

A Day at the Beach

I remember years ago watching That’s Incredible! on television. On this particular episode they showed a group of people that they portrayed as completely insane: a Polar Bear club who would start off their New Year with a swim in icy water. I remember being simultaneously horrified at the thought and fascinated by it. What would possess people to do such a thing? Why were they having a good time doing something that sounded like misery?

Now, just a few weeks ago, I found myself about 30 years older. In the intervening time I somehow learned to dislike the cold much more than I had as a kid. I try to minimize the amount of time I spend outside in the winter and when I am outside I try to get my work done as quickly as I can so I can get back indoors where I grumpily wish for the day I see the first signs of spring. In other words, while I am a tremendously positive person most of the time, if you catch me outdoors when the temperature is below freezing you’re likely to find yourself with a misanthropic old Archie Bunker caught in the body of a 42 year old.

A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine sent me an invitation to join her in the 2013 Polar Bear Dip in Lake Ontario on New Year’s Day. The name immediately woke up 9 year old Todd. “I remember that! That’s where the crazy people jump in the water and scream and laugh and have an amazing time. I want to find out what that’s all about!!” But you bet old Archie Bunker had his say. “Awwww Jeeez! Do you know how cold it’s going to be!? If you don’t actually freeze to death, you’ll probably spend the rest of the winter colder than you already are.” He was already calling in reinforcements in the form of “The voice of my dad,” “My Grade 10 Health Science Teacher,” and just in case I might still listen to him, Father Paul from St. Anthony’s Church where I hadn’t attended a service since 1981. But it was too late, before he could bring any of them in, I had clicked “Join”

Sure, I had lots of reservations, but part of me clearly thought it was a good idea, and if last summer’s ride didn’t teach me that doing something many people, including part of yourself, thinks is crazy was a great way to do something amazing, everyone participating in this project certainly did. If you had listened to your internal pessimist, the one who thinks you might have a bad idea or something better to do, someone wouldn’t have visited residents in a long-term care facility, a Grade 8 English teacher wouldn’t have found out what a difference they made in someone’s life, and nobody would have sent hundreds of cards to residents of The Moorings in Illinois. There would be no dithering as to whether this was a good idea or not. I had the impulse to do it for a reason and it was time to follow through.

And so with Archie Bunker tied up in the back of my subconscious with over 1,000 acts of kindness pledged, and gagged with a 1,534 kilometre father/son bike ride, I found myself out at the edge of Lake Ontario with two friends and several hundred other people. The temperature outside was -5C (23F) and the ground was snow-covered. Relative to the air, the water was positively balmy at 5C (41F). I was wearing nothing but a bathing suit and water shoes. In the background Dhol Circle drummed and the January sun tried its best to warm us all. Before we had time to register what was happening or to talk ourselves out of it, it was time to go and everyone entered the water. When the water reached my knees I remember thinking “Wow, this isn’t so bad, really!” We pushed further out until the water was up to my stomach. At this point, any thoughts of “Wow, this isn’t too cold, after all!” had disappeared. The cold was beginning to literally take my breath away and pushing through the water seemed to get harder by the step. I turned around and my two friends were there. We looked at one another, and someone asked if we were going under. Before we could answer or talk ourselves out of it, someone else started counting. “One, Two, Three!” And that was it, we went under. We were now completely submerged in water that was colder than any water I might avoid on the hottest summer day. We ran back toward the snowy beach, trying to find where we’d left our towels and warm clothes. The cold was definitely affecting my brain, giving it the feeling of both incredible focus on one need: “Where are the warm things?!” and being scattered, looking all over trying to find where it might be Finally we found our things among the crowds of people. A few minutes was all it took to towel off and get back into our warm clothes, my only regret being that I didn’t bring a second pair of warm, dry shoes.

And the verdict? 9 year old Todd was right. I had an amazing time. Starting the year off doing something crazy that I’d always been curious about was tremendously rewarding. Doing it with friends was even more fun. And Archie Bunker and all of the friends he tried to call in? Well, they didn’t even bother to show up. I guess he knew the power of just following your instincts and making good on your intentions.

Act of Kindness Pledged: I recently cut 6 inches off of my hair and donated it to make wigs for kids with cancer!. Pledge #816, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

photo MyNeChimKi

I remember a few years ago, I went to see Roger Geller, the Bicycle Coordinator for the city of Portland speak. Overall it was a fantastic presentation – if you’re curious, the slides can be found here. But one of the subjects he touched on was the idea of risk versus comfort. There are definitely some situations that are more risky to cycle in than others. I remember when I was plotting last year’s route into New York City, one option had us going along the east side of the Hudson river. At one point the directions said very clearly “WALK, DO NOT RIDE ON THIS STRETCH.” The traffic was known for being so dangerous that riding a bike there was risking one’s life. However, there’s also the idea of comfort, or more specifically feeling comfortable in a riding position. For example, in much city traffic, the safest thing to do is to take the entire driving lane. The reason for this is simple: there isn’t enough space for both a bike and car to safely share the lane, taking the entire lane encourages drivers to switch lanes entirely rather than just squeezing to the left enough to get by you. This practice also ensures you’ll be much more visible. But in some traffic that doesn’t feel comfortable. Very often, riding in the centre of the lane feels very vulnerable, in part because you’re right in the middle of the lane, and also in part because of anticipated or actual driver aggression.

Recently with all of the news about gun violence, and an increase in the purchase of guns including assault weapons by folks in the US, I’ve decided that a route through the US is not something I want to take on. Whether this is because of actual risk or “comfort level” as I mentioned above could be the subject of much debate, but in my case, my path forward is pretty clear. Long distance cycling has its inherent risks, as does doing it through relatively desolate areas along with the weather that can be expected in the deep south. I don’t want to add any further risk – perceived or otherwise to this trip.

So while the trip will definitely go forward, it will occur outside of the borders of the United States. At this point an eastbound trek, perhaps to Newfoundland is what seems most likely, but the final route is still to be determined.

Ryan Garcia of 366randomacts.org

Working on this project for over a year now I’ve seen more and more people promoting kindness. Friends who know of my project now send me articles and inspiring posts about people who are on a similar journey to my own. To say this has changed my outlook would be an understatement. Knowing that there are so many wonderful people out in the world quietly doing good makes the bad news we receive daily through newspapers and television a little easier to stomach. It also keeps me always on the lookout for good whenever I see it. But I’m only actively working on this project a few hours a week, followed by a pretty intense few weeks of a bike ride during which it is hard not to focus on the kindness of strangers. But imagine if you spent every day of an entire year focusing on that. Well, Ryan Garcia of 366 Random Acts of Kindness has done just that. Ryan was able to answer a few questions for us just a few days before completing a full year of performing acts of kindness.

How did you come up with the idea of 366 Acts of Kindness?
On December 31st, 2011, I was sitting on my couch watching my then 3 month old daughter playing on the ground. Something just hit me that I needed to try to make the world around her a better place and set a positive example for her. Then I just told my wife “Ya know, I think I am going to do a different act of kindness every day next year.” She thought it sounded crazy but has supported me the entire way.

What are you hoping to accomplish with your project?
Besides setting a positive example for my daughter, I hope that more and more people see the ease of kindness. The world would be a much better place if each person performed a random act of kindness everyday.

Your project is inspiring so many people. Who inspires you?
Isla is my biggest inspiration, but none of this would be possible without the day to day inspiration of my wife. She is my rock and has been everything to this project. My family and friends also help keep me going by joining along, giving ideas, and supporting me along the way.

You’ve been performing acts of kindness every day for almost a year now. Has this changed you in any way?
100%. I am always on the lookout for opportunities for kindness and notice people doing kind things every day. I have always been sarcastic and kind of a cynic but that has been blown out of the water after doing this project.

Were there any surprises in this project?
I was surprised how it took on a life of its’ own. When I first started I figured that my friends and family would follow on Facebook, etc. I never thought that I would be doing interviews all around the world, meeting celebrities and athletes (all of whom have been so kind), and receiving the most touching letters and emails I could ever imagine.

We’re just a few days away from Day 366, what’s next for you?
It’s something I have been trying to think of a whole lot. I’m not too sure I will be blogging about it everyday, but I have a couple of things in mind. I don’t think I will confine myself to a single year either.

We at 500 Kindnesses talk a lot about *performing* acts of kindness but we spend less time talking about what it’s like to be on the receiving end. What is the most memorable act of kindness that you’ve ever been on the receiving end of?
The aforementioned letters and emails that I have received from people have been the greatest act of kindness that I have received. The stories and kind words that people have shared with me has touched me to the core, and they have made this the most unforgettable year of my life.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Just that there is such an ease to doing kind acts. It doesn’t have to be some grand undertaking, but there are so many different opportunities on a daily basis where you can impact someone’s life in way’s you couldn’t imagine.

Act of Kindness Pledged: Yesterday, while standing in line at a shoe store, I watched as one of the staff tried to explain to an elderly lady that she had only 30 days to return her purchase. The lady only spoke French and no one in the store could speak the language, even at a basic level. Despite not having spoken a word of French in ~10 years, I translated what the store clerk was trying to say. I’m normally very shy but I felt this situation called for action! Bonus kindness: the store manager was so thankful for my help that she gave me an additional discount on my purchase. Pledge #815, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

photo Marcel Moré

Instead of being submitted through the usual pledge form, this one came tucked in a Christmas card that arrived yesterday from a close friend of mine. Inside the card was another card, this one a “Thank You” card with a personal message that ended: “I’m kicking off my acts of kindness. My Christmas cards all contain thank you letters for the people who mean the most to me.”

photo 77webstudio

Thanks to everyone who participated in our holiday card drive for the residents of The Moorings. At the end, according to our Facebook Event, we had a total of 367 participants, some of whom sent multiple cards.

What I like about this event aside from the obvious aspect of making people happy, is how it clearly demonstrates a few of the most important things I’m trying to get across with this project:

An act of kindness doesn’t have to be huge or take a great deal of effort to make a huge difference people’s lives. A card sent, a smile or a hug given, a meal shared – these things, when lovingly performed can be truly significant to another person.

A number of small acts, when performed together, can make create an even bigger impact. One card sent is lovely, many cards sent is all the more so. A few minutes effort on the part of a few hundred people truly adds up. And for being a part of that, I truly thank you all.

Most importantly, it also illustrates the power of turning ideas into action. We’re all filled with amazing ideas, beautiful ideas, ideas that can do nothing short of change the world around us. But if we talk ourselves out of doing those ideas, find reasons that it won’t work, or won’t have the desired impact, then nothing will happen. In this case so many people got together, took an idea that we all shared in our heads, and instead of finding reasons not to do it (I could have found dozens for myself alone!) we just did it.

So as we approach the new year, I challenge you to take action – not just with acts of kindness, but in all areas of your lives. Turn your ideas into reality. You’ll be amazed what you can create.

Act of Kindness Pledged: Tomorrow I am bringing coffee, eggnog, and my espresso machine to work and will make eggnog lattes for my coworkers. This is in memory of one of our friends who used to work with us who, every Christmas, would bring in his supplies and make lattes for us. We all miss him a lot. Pledge #446, Newport, Oregon, USA

photo Christopher Alameda

“What a great idea…not only will I send a card and suggest to family and friends to send a card, but I am also going to do this very thing with a local nursing home where my mother lived for 9 years…I plan on gathering peoples cards and delivering the to our nursing home…Genius and so loving especially at this time of the year when they need that extra love.
What a wonderful community project…”

“We wrote 5 cards at my Christmas get together the other night. Will be sending them this week. “

“Just addressed our card! Love knowing it will bring people some joy.”

“I just wrote The Moorings folks a 4-page letter and it was so much fun! “

As cards came in, Geri, the Activities Coordinator at The Moorings started giving us updates:

“Cards are begining to arrive. Shout of thanks to Jane J., Lee Ann, The Pascheke Family, Christine P. The Gates Family and The Michaels Family. The residents are feeling so very loved by letters from around the U.S. Your photos, singing cards and homemade cards are amazing. Good wishes and love is felt by all!”

“We recieved mail from a castle today! I googled the castle with a photo and learned the history. We traveled to Nova Scotia also! We read a poem about remember mother’s. There was not a dry eye in the house. Traditions that continue thru the next generation is so important to my residents. Kindness, love and caring are the “things” that mean the most. We recieved many cards looking for a grandparent pen pal. You got it! There are many sad people grieving the loss of loved ones. I see it and feel it in the words you express. We love you back and truly appreciate the kindness you have shown. I believe we are building a lasting relationship. You are Loved.”

“Our boards and cabinets are filling up! Cards from all over the world! Even a children’s hospital staff took the precious time to send a card. We all agreed that it difficult to loose a resident who becomes our family even after a long fullfilling life. How difficult it must be to care for children in the hospital. What a caring, loving, supportive staff. We cried and were deeply touched to receive such a thoughtful card. Special shouts out to all the classrooms and teachers who have supplied cards for all the departments! Canada, Ohio, Minnesota, New Zealand, a castle too! Warm notes and letters with enclosed photos! We plan on writing back after the holidays so watch your mail. Lastly only a small portion of my residents are represented in the photo. You are blessing so many people. We cried and prayed over the latest events in the news. It is never too late to change the world through one act of kindness.”

“Our cabinets are full along with the bulletin board. Cards are also distributed in the residents room. Each resident was able to receive three personalized cards for their rooms yesterday! It has become the highlight of their day! They LOVE the notes and stories! Today I will read to them a four page letter! We have recieved dvd’s and cd’s! Hand drawn cards from children around the world! Wonderful photos of pets and families. I will be posting later today the photos of the cards. The resident family members are viewing the cards along with the staff. Many lives are being touched through your acts of kindness. It takes only one act of kindness to change the world. May it be yours that finally does it!”

“If cards were not enough we are now receiving holiday song videos! They are the most beautifully heartfelt songs ever! I am so looking forward to showing my residents tomorrow. Thank you so much.”

“Posting a small portion of the cards we recieved so far! Thank you so much for changing the lives of our residents. Some of my residents may not have made it to see another Christmas but they lived long enough to be touched by your kindness. It means so much!”

Thanks, everyone, for your participation. It made a lot of folks’ holiday seasons special. Heck, I don’t even usually celebrate the holidays and it made mine really special.

Residents of The Moorings of Arlington Heights Health Center gather in front of their “Acts of Kindness” bulletin board supporting Todd O’Reilly’s “500 Kindnesses” cross-country bike journey.

The Moorings Retirement Community Residents Respond To Call For Acts of Kindness; Holiday Cards Requested For Them In Return

No matter who you are or what your age, you are more important than you think. And more wealthy and more powerful too. In your ability to give acts of kindness and make a difference. That’s what residents in health care at The Moorings of Arlington Heights retirement community did when they pledged more than 50 acts of kindness to support Canadian Todd O’Reilly, 42, and his 14-year-old son in their “500 Acts of Kindness” cross-country bicycle journey from Toronto to New York City.

How did it all begin? Every day The Moorings residents would review the day’s news with Health Care Activity Specialist Geri Wozniak. Dismayed by the amount of bad news they read, they began to look for good news. They found a story last summer about Mr. Reilly and his son’s bike ride seeking pledges of acts of kindness.

“We began to discuss how you can change the world with one act of kindness at a time,” said Ms. Wozniak. “The residents wanted to participate in Mr. O’Reilly’s pledge drive and began to list acts of kindness they had given, received or witnessed. We emailed them to Todd during the bike trip.” A sampling:

Evelyn’s daughter Karen played the piano
I let two ladies go ahead of me for breakfast
Kindergarten kids came to visit
We encouraged the kindergarten kids.
Wife of former roommate is still bringing me the paper.
Gave a compliment
Prayed for Buthene
Helped table mate with straw

From a post at his website, 500Kindnesses.com, Mr. O’Reilly writes “I’ve talked before about how just a simple act of kindness – a smile shared, a kind word can make a huge difference. I can speak from personal experience when it comes to the residents of The Moorings. I remember clearly one day outside of Ottawa when the weather was so hot, the bugs so bad, and my hands were still numb from bad handlebar position. We pulled over for a break in the shade and I looked at my phone to find a message from the Activities Coordinator at The Moorings, Geri, cheering us on, reminding us to stay hydrated and sharing a huge list of acts of kindness that the residents had performed. It was always wonderful to hear from them and made me feel so good that, even at the hardest times, even pushing the bike down a gravel path at 11PM, we would remember their kind words and push onward.”

Holiday Christmas Card Drive

Now Mr. O’Reilly is seeking acts of kindness in return for the residents of The Moorings of Arlington Heights. In an effort he calls “500 Kindnesses Holiday/Christmas Card Drive,” he asks that holiday cards be mailed to The Moorings residents with personal notes of well wishes. Ms. Wozniak told him how the residents gather as family during the holidays, open cards together, and take turns reading them aloud and posting them on the wall.

What do the residents of the Moorings want the world to know about kindness? Ms. Wozniak shared their thoughts: “Kindness is rewarding and should be spread around. There’s a lot of it out there; you just have to find it. Kindness shows love.”

And what do the residents of The Moorings want the world to know about them? “We are smart. We are movers and shakers, a community of people, not a nursing home. We are The Moorings; this is our home. We stay healthy and happy. We hope the Cubs win.”

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About The Moorings of Arlington Heights

The Moorings of Arlington Heights, a member of Presbyterian Homes, is a continuing care retirement community located in Chicago’s northwest suburbs at 811 East Central Road in Arlington Heights, IL, just east of Arlington Heights Road. The Moorings provides independent living in apartments or villas, assisted living apartments, skilled nursing care, specialized Alzheimer’s care, and rehabilitation services.

About Presbyterian Homes

Founded in 1904, Presbyterian Homes is a not-for-profit, non-sectarian organization with a national reputation for creating extraordinary retirement communities. Presbyterian Homes serves older adults through its residential and healthcare programs on campuses in Evanston, Lake Forest, Arlington Heights and Chicago, IL. The organization is accredited by the Continuing Care Accreditation Commission, the nation’s only accrediting body for retirement communities. For more information visit Presbyterian Homes.

Act of Kindness Pledged: Today I gave up my Ticket to attend the Annual PWA Clients’ Christmas Party, a much anticipated event held every year for the Clients of the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation, so that someone on the waiting list for event tickets, who doesn’t have much to look forward to at this time of year can, at least, attend an event. Pledge #445, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

photo Tristan Martin

Act of Kindness Pledged: When I bought my lunch today, I bought a $20 giftcard and signed it “From Secret Santa”. I had the waitress deliver it to an adorable little girl eating with her Mom after I left the restaurant. The waitress was so excited and I hope the little girl was too!! – Pledge #444, Portland, Oregon, USA

photo Steven Depolo

Photo by Victor Scaletchi

From the beginning of this project, many people would say “I think your cause is great but I don’t understand what it has to do with riding a bike.” For a very long time I didn’t have a good answer beyond “Well, people do charity athletic events all the time – there isn’t really a clear connection.”

All of this changed during our ride. There’s a very clear connection to several aspects of cycling.

First off, a long bike trip seems daunting at first, in much the same way that the suffering and sadness in the world seem really overwhelming. Sometimes one’s response to being overwhelmed like that is to just do nothing. Heck, that was almost what I did with this ride. But in both cases, the key to moving forward is to just look as far ahead as you know you can do. During our ride, we knew where we were hoping to end up at the end of the day, but when we left in the morning we didn’t really think about that. We thought about where most likely place we would find our second breakfast would be. That was usually only an hour or less away. And we could always motivate ourselves to do that And often that goal would help energize us further so that the ride actually got easier the further we went rather than harder. The same is true about being kind. There are tons of things we can do, lots of ways we can help others or just make someone’s day a little happier. But if we think of all of those it is easy to get overwhelmed. Pick one. Do that. And when you’re done with that, pick another. And just like we eventually made our way across the George Washington Bridge and pulled our bike into Central Park, you’ll reach your goal. Except here’s where both kindness and bike rides trick you. That’s only the goal you know about. Another goal will likely make itself known to you and then you will go chasing that, just as we’re chasing a new goal of our own.

Bike trips don’t always go the way we expect. We may have an idea of where we’re headed, but instead of ending up where you had planned to you end up somewhere else. You are then presented with a choice: embrace the change or be upset about it. I would suggest the former. After all, the change has already happened. This was made clear to us on the third day of our ride. We had plans for a long ride and a night of couchsurfing. Instead of doing that, though, we ended up getting tired and rained on and so we stopped in an entirely different town. Instead of being upset at the changed plans or berating ourselves for doing 110 km we only managed 80, we chose to embrace the moment. And this moment happened to drop us in a camper trailer on the edge of Lake Consecon. Sure, it required re-plotting our route for the next day but it was worth it for the sunset swim we enjoyed.

Day 3 ends – with a swim and dinner on the porch.

Performing an act of kindness is the same way. A lot of times it doesn’t go as smoothly as you expect because it is unexpected. The recipient doesn’t know what to make of it. On a few occasions I’ve paid for coffee for strangers behind me when I was buying my own and invariably the clerks are initially confused by it. Other times I’ve just asked the people behind me what they want and they, also can be pretty confused. And then, of course you might do something kind and the gesture is completely misinterpreted. Boy do I understand that one.

Riding bikes is good for you and the more people ride bikes, the better it is for a culture. It improves health, and in cities, heavy cycle use improves air quality and traffic flow. Imagine the additional smog and traffic if all of the cyclists in this video were in cars instead.

Like cycling, kindness improves the culture of a place significantly the more people do it. Kindness alone is great, kindness in numbers is magical.

Finally, people have asked if this year we’ll be going on two bikes instead of a single tandem. The answer to this is no. We really enjoyed talking to one another, telling stories, playing games, and listening to music together – all would be much harder on two bikes. I also like the symbolism of a tandem bike when it comes to this project. Those who haven’t ridden a tandem before often ask if the two riders have to work equally. The answer is no. Both riders have to go through the motions and follow the pedals, but the rider chooses how hard he pedals. The result is that we really began to tune in to each other’s needs. On days when I was feeling more tired than usual, I didn’t have to work as hard because Daegan could push a little harder. Meanwhile, I got to the point where I could tell when we needed to start looking for a restaurant or place to pick up a snack because I would find that Daegan wasn’t able to pedal as hard as he normally would when he got hungry and I could feel the difference. We were both connected. Our actions, moods, and abilities were literally connected to one another. Ignoring his needs affected both of our ability to be successful at doing what we wanted to do. And if we were encouraging and supportive of one another we both had a better time and were more successful. What could be a better metaphor for the value of kindness and human connection within a society?

A few weeks ago a friend of mine said something to me that few who mostly work in the Engineering Departments of pharmaceutical companies ever hears: “My partner makes documentary films and we think your project would make a great film.”

It was surprising, for sure. 500 Kindnesses has always been just something I do, not something people film. Still, the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. A film could help this project reach more people. And presenting the entire project in a couple of hours time could concisely communicate the goals of the project – to get people to realize that just like a series of small day’s rides can take you enormous distances on a bike, many small acts of kindness in aggregate can create changes much bigger than ourselves. And the only thing we need to do to to affect that change is to start.

And so, a couple of weeks ago I found myself sitting with Colin Scheyen and his partner discussing ideas for the film. In addition to documenting the trip itself we’ll be doing interviews with experts in the fields of philanthropy, politics, and philanthropy. We’ll also be doing mini-features on some of the work that is being done in the communities we’ll be passing through. And of course we’ll also be exploring the history of the Underground Railroad and civil rights movement as we go.

It’s an extremely exciting prospect, for sure. Colin’s begun a fundraising campaign. If you’d like to see this film, consider supporting his campaign with a small donation.

Photo by AJ Mangoba

Act of Kindness Pledged: On November 22, I witnessed a hit and almost run accident. I ran after the hitter. caught them at traffic and took a pic of their licence plate, left a note on the car thats been hit. The owner called me and i explained the incident and emailed her the pic of the car that hit hers. that was my pledge for a total stranger, i was at the right place at the right time. – Pledge #443, Pickering, Ontario, Canada

photo Jason Berberich

Act of Kindness Pledged: I will pay off 3 people’s layaways for Christmas at a local retailer. – Pledge #442, Arlington Heights, Illinois, USA

photo habier lópez

Priya Shah of The Simple Good

One of the unexpected bonuses of working on a project like 500 Kindnesses is that not only do I get to see all of the wonderful pledges coming in, I begin to connect with kindness in other places as well. Now when friends see an inspiring article about something that someone did, they immediately share it with me. And so while I hear all of the same news and deal with life’s challenges and frustrations, I have a steady stream of positivity coming in.

Another thing that has happened since starting this is that I am discovering so many other people who are focusing part of their lives on promoting kindness. Maybe I read too much news but I am meeting far more people who make being kind and promoting kindness a part of their daily life. All of this really improves my outlook.

A few weeks ago I came across a few more of those people – the folks behind The Simple Good and I realized that I shouldn’t keep all of these positive people for myself. So I asked Priya Shah, co-founder of The Simple Good if she’d answer a few questions I could share with you:

Who are the folks behind The Simple Good?

Priya Shah (Co-Founder)
Jon Ofori-Amoah (Website developer – the man behind creating our beautiful website!)

Outside of The Simple Good, what do you do?

During the day, I am an analyst at Groupon. I previously was an Auditor at Ernst & Young, when The Simple Good was first founded and a year ago transitioned over to Groupon. Both companies were/have been very supportive of The Simple Good which is always very humbling.

What is The Simple Good’s mission?

Engaging communities and people from around the world to search for the every good in their lives through art and unique events.

How did your project start? Where did the idea come from?

A friend and I were searching for ideas on how we could do something more meaningful aside from our day jobs. Both of us had travelled the world and while looking through photos, we realized how the same forms of good were captured over and over again, no matter what country we were in. Whether it was a sunset, a smile, or an act of kindness – good was the same to all of us, no matter where we go in the world. The idea of The Simple Good was more of a realization which transformed into a photoblog which ended up catching on rapidly and we received participation from all over the world. We now do community engaging events, such as an art showcase and evening gatherings, to bring the idea of the simple good to life which has been received incredibly well here in Chicago.

Who inspires you?

My mother. She was the one that encouraged me to travel at a young age and pushed me to experience these opportunities over and over again. She exemplifies the simple good in life at every moment.

What is your favourite submission?

There are too many to choose from! The best submissions are not necessarily the submissions with the best photography but with the best story. Here is one of my favorites.

When we put so much of ourselves into a project, our projects can often change us. How has your project changed who you are?

It’s now become a habit (and job) for me to look for good in everything I do – even in the smallest ways. By doing this, I have become a lot more appreciative, forgiving and thoughtful in my day to day just through this simple practice. I hope to bring this realization to others in the world so that they can experience the same. The tough times are eased when you’re constantly reminded of all the great things you do have.

What is the next step with your project? What are your dreams for it?

I hope to make The Simple Good an outlet for good. By expanding mediums for sharing good whether through photography, stories, or media, there are many ways for people to express their good in their world and I hope to create a hub for it. I also aspire to make The Simple Good events on a grander scale in various cities to bring a great community engaging scene which brings light to good that surrounds us.

We at 500 Kindnesses talk a lot about *performing* acts of kindness but we spend less time talking about what it’s like to be on the receiving end. What is the most memorable act of kindness that you’ve ever been on the receiving end of?

Every photo submission and support I have received for The Simple Good has been the most humbling acts of kindness I have received during this entire journey. To have someone share the light in their life with us and the world is amazing and magnifies the kindness and sharing that does exist in our world.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

Please submit photos of the good in your life to The Simple Good! Some may not realize it, but every ounce of good shared is a story and creates a ripple effect to our world – which is a very powerful thing to be a part of.

One of the great things about doing a project like this is the fact that you meet so many amazing people doing all manner of wonderful things. Every few days I get a pledge, and so many people know I’m a big fan of acts of kindness that every day or two someone posts an inspirational story on my Facebook wall. It is hard not to have a lot of hope and love for the human race in the face of that.

On the other hand, every once In a while you meet a person that has a bit more cynicism than average. Take this recent post on the Share Something Day event page from someone that it turns out I went to high school with:

“Please remove me from whatever list you have me on! I never requested to get this junk. I am a cynical old man and have no interest in kindness. So please, if you want to do a kindness then be kind stop sending me this junk!!!! Thanks”

The first reaction I had was, predictably, was for my feelings to be a bit hurt. But given the overall response to the project it was hard for that to last. The feeling that *did* stick around was one of being misunderstood. There are a lot of things to be upset about in the world, but at the same time, there is a great deal of good happening. If you’re cynical, why wouldn’t you want to know about things good that *are* happening? I also felt a bit judgmental: What are you doing feeling cynical and not wanting to hear good things and bringing others down at the same time? But after ruminating on that for a while, I have come to another conclusion. This was an opportunity for me to look inside and see where I might be doing the same thing. I didn’t have to look very far at all. I only needed to look at this trip and the route we’ve chosen to see where it lies. Last year’s trip was through two Canadian provinces and six US states, all of whom are solid blue states. This year’s trip will pass through the reddest of red states – five in total before going through two blue states and returning to Ontario.

While I tend to be fairly soft spoken and like to keep a relatively open mind, I also tend to be pretty socially and politically liberal. And for someone like me, I have to admit that the idea of traveling somewhere as conservative as the deep south is a bit daunting. How will we be received? In a part of the US that gets a lot of press for hate groups and racism, what will we find there? The questions enter my mind, of course, but I feel like that’s going to be the personal part of the journey for me. I know academically that we will meet many wonderful people. I know there is more depth to the people there than that. And I also hope that they’ll find the same of this US Expat who is happy to live in a country with equal marriage and single payer health care. But it would be hypocritical and ironic of me to be concerned about meeting people significantly different than me because I’ve heard that they’re afraid of people different from them. And as a parent, I think it’s especially important to confront this sort of thing head-on.

So sure, there’s a bit of cynicism in me, but I’m ready to face it. And I’m really looking forward to be proven wrong. And I think I have an advantage in this case. I believe kindness transcends religious beliefs, cultural beliefs, and political ideology because we all like it when people are kind to us, and we all enjoy the experience of being kind to others. And so I look forward to sharing my experience with you.

Photo: skooksie

While we were on our the 500 Kindnesses journey last summer, on the hottest of days our spirits were buoyed by frequent well wishes and acts of Kindness pledged by the folks at The Moorings of Arlington Heights – a retirement community in Illinois. In the end we received over 50 pledges from them alone. You can see all of the pledges here.

I’ve talked before about how just a simple act of kindness – a smile shared, a kind word can make a huge difference. I can speak from personal experience when it comes to the residents of The Moorings. I remember clearly one day outside of Ottawa when the weather was *so* hot, the bugs so bad, and my hands were still numb from bad handlebar position. We pulled over for a break in the shade and I looked at my phone to find a message from the Activities Coordinator at The Moorings, Geri, cheering us on, reminding us to stay hydrated and sharing a huge list of acts of kindness that the residents had performed. It was always wonderful to hear from them and made me feel so good that even at the hardest times, even pushing the bike down a gravel path at 11PM, we would remember their kind words and push onward.

Now I’d like your help in returning the favour. The holidays are coming rapidly upon us. If you could join us in sending a holiday or Christmas card to the residents with *your* well wishes I would really appreciate it and I know the residents would as well. They take turns opening the cards, read them aloud, and hang them on the wall. If there are family photos or other personal touches I know that they’d especially appreciate it.

Your contributions on Share Something Day were nothing short of amazing. I’d love it if you could help me fill their mailbox to overflowing so I could begin to repay them for the happiness they brought us this past summer. For those of you who on Facebook, please join and share the Facebook event.

Cards can be sent to:

Geri Wozniak
c/o The Moorings of Arlington Hts
761 Old Barn Lane
Arlington Hts Il 60005
USA

I do a whole bunch of things with the time I haven’t sold to a company to support ourselves and one of those is Improv. I, and one or more others will get up on stage, and make up characters and stories usually inspired only by a one word suggestion. I’ve been doing it for about two years and surprisingly it taught me even more about life off stage than it did about how to manage on stage. And much of it ties back in to this project.

There will be times when everyone goes on stage, the audience gives a suggestion, let’s say “Anthracite”. Everyone goes to the sides of the stage and there’s an uncomfortable moment when perhaps some of the folks on the team are thinking “Wait, what is anthracite again?” or “What does coal make me think of? I have nothing.” But the show must go on, and usually someone will step forward, and start something. Maybe they knew anthracite was a kind of coal, and so they thought of pretending to be a thrill seeker surfing on top of a freight train. Now, though, the rest of the team is thinking “Oh no! What’s he supposed to be doing? He’s all alone up there, he must feel a bit put on the spot. I should probably get up there and join him but I have nothing.” At the same time a few of the less confident in the troupe might have some idea of what he’s doing and how he might step out and make a scene happen but then his internal voice pipes up and lets him know he thinks it’ll be a stupid idea and not only will the audience hate it, his teammates will also think it’s dumb so probably it’s best to just hold back and let someone more experienced and confident take it. And meanwhile, Jeff, the guy who stepped out there is now 30 seconds into pantomiming surfing on the stage. The audience is confused and unsure of what is happening.

Here’s a couple of things I’ve learned, and admittedly am still working on learning to actually put into practice consistently:

If you have nothing in your head as to what you will do when you step out to support your teammate, that’s fine. Quite often, the inspiration for what you do on stage can come from all sorts of different things. You could get inspired to be a character by how you feel walking out, or Jeff, seeing you walk out could call out to you “Officer! I have a perfectly good explanation for this.” And now you have a direction. The scene moves on and Jeff is supported.

And if you have something in your head? That’s fantastic, too. What I’ve learned from paying attention to my own inner monologue both on stage and off, is that I have lots of ideas, but my internal Quality Control group is often very conservative and sometimes cuts them off half way through the pitch. And in the process, lots of really great ideas get shoved back down. And the shame of this is that instead of even making an effort to help our friend Jeff, we stand by the sides thinking that we’re not qualified, or we won’t know what to do.

Another thing I have learned is that sometimes those inner voices are right. You step out with or without your idea, and things don’t quite go as you’d hoped. But I try to keep a couple things in mind. First off, those situations are not the norm and supporting Jeff is more important than a potential minor embarrassment at a scene that wasn’t what you’d thought it would be. The second is, it’s all ephemeral. After a couple minutes that scene will be ended and a new one started, and in 15-20 minutes, the whole show will be over. And finally, what are the consequences of this failure? A bit of discomfort and embarrassment, mostly in one’s own head – i.e. within your control.

But the thing is, if we don’t take those risks and go forward not knowing what will happen, or not being completely sure of ourselves, that is often where the magical things happen. The most fun I’ve had on stage wasn’t when I had an idea on the sidelines, and then everything on stage went exactly as I’d planned. The best times were those times when I didn’t know what was going to happen and discovered it on the way – or even more worrisome to the internal QC: when you walk out with one idea: “Jeff’s train surfing” and as soon as you step out, Jeff offers you a hoverboard of your own. Quick! Drop every idea you had, it’s all different.

Great, so what does this have to do with 500 Kindnesses?

Everything, actually. I can’t speak for everyone, but I know in my own head and from many I’ve talked to that internal QC person who vets your ideas on stage with tremendous harshness, also does the same job in our daily life.

First off, there are a lot of unknowns about taking on a bike ride of this scale and a lot of things that might not work out as we’d hoped. We know this. But I also know that sometimes, when it goes far from the way we expect or even want, it can be one of the most magical experiences.

But as much as it has to do with taking on a long bike trip, it has more to do with the presence of kindness in our daily life. We have great ideas for nice things we can do all the time that we shoot down before they happen because we think they might be dumb or taken the wrong way. Sometimes we see people who clearly need help but we don’t know what to do. And in both cases we do nothing when doing anything could be the best possible thing. And in most cases the consequences of failure are most likely very small, and in the majority of those cases, those consequences only occur in our own heads anyway in the form of embarrassment that only we feel because so often those we feel embarrassed in front of don’t even notice.

So I encourage you as you look at the Pledge link, and elsewhere in your life, bypass that internal QC every once in a while. You’ll be glad you did.

Train-Surfing Photo: Micah MacAllen

Act of Kindness Pledged: I will give a copy of one of my favourite personal development books (Creative Visualisation by Shakti Gawain) to a stranger. – Pledge #441, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

photo Maureen Flynn-Burhoe

Act of Kindness Pledged: A local theatre troupe is raising money via Indiegogo in order to stage a comedy show. I donated – I like helping people do what they love. – Pledge #440, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

photo Kevin T. Houle

In addition to the simple act of “attending” this facebook event, many people told us about their experiences today on the wall of the event. Here is what people posted:

Here are some of the housewares I shared with Furniture Bank – a charity that helps refugees and women who are trying to start again after having been in shelters. – Toronto, Ontario, Canada

photo Ben Grey

Act of Kindness Pledged: Something really nice happened today. A customer came through my line with a turkey, some veggies, stuffing and some gravy. I informed him if he just spent $5 dollars more, he would get a discount on his turkey. He told me,”no that’s ok, I am buying this for my neighbour, who is down on his luck and having a bad year. I am going to bring it by his house as a surprise, so he can celebrate Thanksgiving with his wife and family”. Well one thing led to another, and I told him all about 500 Kindnesses. He thought that was an awesome idea and told me it would be cool if I could add this to your list of pledges. – Pledge #29, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

photo AJ Schuster

The response to Share Something Day has been fantastic so far. Here is one of the things being shared.

Act of Kindness Pledged: Yesterday, our 9 year old picked out some long sleeve shirts for a little boy whose family is in need of clothing for the winter. We don’t know the family and learned of them through St. Matt’s in DC. We’re hoping the shirts help keep that little one warm. – Pledge #28, Washington, DC, USA

photo Susan

The response to Share Something Day has been fantastic so far. Here is one of the things being shared.

Act of Kindness Pledged: I will be avoiding all commercial shopping and spending time (the best thing to spend) with two dear students who are staying with me during their break. We will probably tour the Parthenon in Nashville while everyone else is at the malls and going crazy! – Pledge #27, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

photo Angel

The response to Share Something Day has been fantastic so far. Here is one of the things being shared.

Act of Kindness Pledged: I will donate to a local church that provides a bed for any child who needs one in our county. – Pledge #26, Location Unknown

photo Grant Avenue Baptist Church

Act of Kindness Pledged: I pledge to walk dogs for people who for one reason or another cannot do it themselves. It helps the people AND the dogs! – Pledge #25, Portsmouth, NH, USA

photo Jason Barnette

Act of Kindness Pledged: I donated to the Movember project – I realised I did a lot of approving nods to people who are raising money for charity, but almost never sent money myself. Trying to change that. – Pledge #24, Toronto, ON, Canada

photo Hamid Najafi

Act of Kindness Pledged: Our family is making and selling Christmas wreaths, gathering returnable bottles and cans, and donations so we can help a beautiful family of four in the Philippines this Christmas. We live in Maine, USA. We don’t have much with four children of our own, but when you see the level of poverty these people live with, we seem rich by comparison. When I last spoke with the Mother, they had 50 pesos to their name and 1 kilo of rice. That’s it. And she shared it with her neighbors so both families could eat for another night. American dollars are worth a lot in the Philippines, so we are just raising all we can and sending them a Western Union gift. It’s amazing how a little from us can be the world to them. We pledge this act of kindness for 500 Kindnesses with pleasure! Keep up the great work everyone! – Pledge #23, Standish, Maine, USA

photo James Emery

The response to Share Something Day has been fantastic so far. Here is one of the things being shared.

Act of Kindness Pledged: I’m in New Zealand and whilst it won’t be thanksgiving, I think it is a nice way to remind us to give more I will be donating to my local sallies (charity) clothes and hopefully some food – Pledge #22, New Zealand

photo Daniel Lobo

The response to Share Something Day has been fantastic so far. Here is one of the things being shared.

Act of Kindness Pledged: I will be giving pasta sauce to my church to support the spaghetti dinners on Welcome Table Wednesdays -a community event at Faith Lutheran Church. – Pledge #21, Middletown, Connecticut, USA

photo Kelly Garbato

Act of Kindness Pledged: Here in St. Louis Missouri, I am going to a benefit for a bass player friends daughter to go on a field trip to Washington D.C. – Pledge #20, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

photo Rob Kleine

The response to Share Something Day has been fantastic so far. Here is one of the things being shared.

Act of Kindness Pledged: I brought a turkey to Metropolitan Ministries yesterday ! Made me feel good – Pledge #19, Holiday, Florida, USA

photo Samira