The puppies get me ready for the people
I don’t love social media. If anyone from my kindness team is reading this, they are rolling their eyes right now, because that statement is a massive understatement. I love having real conversations with real people, but anything over a computer feels a little forced to me. (Can you tell I was born before home
If you look for kindness, you will find it
When I first started writing this “Kindness is Contagious” column nine years ago, I misunderstood what “weekly” meant. The publisher said, “It’s a weekly column.” I heard, “Write it when you have something to write about.” I asked readers to send in their stories of kindness, but I quickly learned to become an investigator of
Remembering time
Our minds can go in a lot of directions in a short period of time. Would you agree? Just yesterday I was thinking about Christmas presents, the Packers’ game and tomatoes all at the same time. Has that ever happened to you? A few weeks ago, I met a magician named Taylor Hughes. I didn’t
Woman shares gratitude and kindness through shoeboxes
I walked past the green and red shoeboxes and my heart caught just a little bit. I was in the middle of Hobby Lobby and my senses were overwhelmed with plaid pillows, glittery ornaments and ceramic Santas. But it was the tidy stack of boxes that held my attention. Those boxes are a connection to
Planting a dream
I planted a tree this weekend. Clearly I was somewhere other than Aberdeen, SD because no one plants trees in South Dakota in November. But they do in San Diego! Have you ever gone somewhere warm and sunny when everyone you know back home is freezing their weebles off? It’s kind of awesome. But I’m
Community creates unity by embracing kindness
Want to know one of the coolest things about living in a small town? When you call the mayor’s office, you actually get to talk to the mayor! The Mayor of Aberdeen owns a business in town, so in full disclosure, I actually found him there. In a show of great kindness, Mayor Travis Shaunaman
Trade in your cloak for a kindness adventure
From the time I was about 10 years old I can recall seasons where a sense of hopelessness would follow me through the morning. It was the oddest thing. Some days I would wake up and there it would be, sitting in the corner like a cloak insisting on being worn. I couldn’t leave my
