Just when Darcy Barry should have been enjoying her senior year of high school and looking forward to future adventures, life threw her a fast-pitch curveball.
On Dec. 23, 1981, she was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis, a condition that causes tumors to form in the brain, spinal cord and nerves.
Step by step, Darcy has gone on to live a full, beautiful ... Read More
When my son started bringing home information about his sixth-grade graduation, I thought it was cute. There would be a ceremony and a class party and even some donated prizes.
Then I found out some of the parents were giving their children gifts to celebrate the milestone.
I am all for using any excuse possible to celebrate life with ice cream, but ... Read More
There is a woman in my town who does a lot of good. I mean A LOT. She and her husband have been blessed with a successful local business, and they are constantly pouring into the community. The thing is, they do it so quietly, unless you’re really paying attention and perhaps digging a little, you’d never know the identities ... Read More
One way to be kind is with your wallet, donating to charities and people in need. But giving can get confusing in a hurry if you’re not aware of the economics of altruism. Dr. Julie Paxton is equipping students to give responsibly through her course, “Economics of Altruism” at Ohio University. In Episode 31 of The Kindness Podcast, Dr. Julie ... Read More
I have a few friends who spent time living in Europe while their husbands were stationed in the military. They recently informed me in Europe it’s customary to give gifts and pay for dinner when it’s your birthday.
As in, “It’s my birthday, so today I will pay!”
I think my friends are saying this because they’re hoping to get a ... Read More
Is it enough as a parent to live your life with kindness and hope your kids catch on? Or is kindness something that needs to be intentional?
What sort of resources do kids even have the ability to give?
It turns out quite a few!
Susan Crites Price is an expert on family philanthropy. She has a great book called Generous Genes: Raising ... Read More
I have yet to meet someone who says, “Nope. I’m not a kind person and I have no intention of changing.”
We might agree that we have a little work to be done in the kindness area, but generally people seem to think they are doing a pretty good job of treating others well.
In a study of 100 young people with ... Read More
Megan Murphy lives with open hands. Instead of clenching her fingers around her stuff, her ideas, her time, she greets people palms up, freely giving what she can to help another along the path of life.
Isn’t that a beautiful way of living?
Certainly there are rocks along Megan’s path, but most of them are colorful and filled with inspiring ... Read More
We can stare at the major issues in this world — hunger, poverty, violence — and feel like we’re looking into a black hole. Then that terrible question pops into our heads, the one that threatens to derail us from doing good and paralyzes us into doing nothing at all.
How could anything I do make a difference?
Krysten Case fights ... Read More
I went to visit a friend in prison a few weeks ago. It was the first time I had been in the belly of a correctional facility since I was a child. Back then, I went with my mom to visit her husband. This time, I got to escort a young friend to see his mom.
Two different prisons, one for ... Read More
