light up someone's day.
on kindness.
Kindness, like love, can be found in different forms: in actions, in words, in the smallest gestures…
The main difference between these two is that kindness only comes from another human being. So, when living in these hostile and individualistic times, we may think there is a drought of kindness, and in many ways there is. The insults get crueler, the kids are meaner, and people are growing more and more egotistical by the time I’m typing this.
People forget that they are dealing with people with feelings, and the fault should not only be laid on social media—people are not only cruel behind a screen—even though it eases the spreading of awful comments.
I believe that genuine kindness is a wonderful trait that should never be extinct or repressed. Being kind at heart should never be diminished as naivety. It means that your heart holds good intentions.
A kind act can always make someone’s day better and brighter, while a rude act or comment can ruin someone’s day. We actually hold some power in our hands; why wouldn’t we use it for the better? I have experienced both, and sometimes the former holds more space in my mind and in my heart.
I hold onto kind words and acts for a little too long.
Last year, in Greece, I was heading to a beach, but the soil was really slippery and I could already see myself falling all the way down, so I decided to stop. That’s when a girl saw me struggling and didn’t hesitate to offer me her hand, helping me get down while encouraging me. I felt really grateful for her, and I think that was the moment in which I realized kindness was still present. We have seen how people turn away when someone needs help, how we pretend not to see things, but I’m the first one to run after someone when they accidentally drop something.
I try to always act by the “treat people how you would like to be treated” mindset, even though most of the time I don’t receive the same treatment I give, but for me it’s enough to know I have done the right thing.
It doesn’t cost me anything—besides my time, of course—to help anyone. Even if they don’t appreciate it, if they don’t value my effort, it’s still better to be kind than to be rude.
I have always seen Greece as the place where the nicest people lived. You can argue that in touristy places you must be nice, but I’ve been to Paris and haven’t met a single nice person dealing with tourists, so I think that isn’t necessarily true. When I was a child, an old man on a ferry gifted me a Mickey Mouse lamp that I still own. When I was five or six, we ended up in a restaurant, and the owner’s daughter, who was almost a teenager, played with me and her friends. We communicated in the broken English that a Spanish little girl had learnt at school and still had so much fun.
This year, the owner of the little hotel in which we stayed was such a nice woman. She even called me “γλυκουλα” (Glykoula), which translates to “sweetie”, and was really thoughtful about every detail.
I also think there’s something really special about going to a restaurant and being met with a kind smile.
These gestures don’t take too much time, but they make a big difference.
Imagine my surprise when a friend of mine who visited Greece for the first time told me that Greeks were so rude. It was such a different experience from mine. And I have to admit that I’ve been quite a few times to Greece and have visited both the Peloponnese and Athens, as well as the Greek Islands, so I guess I know what I’m talking about. The thing I have noticed is that maybe the way I travel is different. She books everything completely organized with guided tours, while I’ve never in my life done a guided tour (except school excursions and in Mexico, but even that was a spontaneous decisions).
My parents and I have always valued the real experience more, asking the locals for good recommendations, always saying “thank you” and some basic words in their language, showing respect for the people that live there.
Some people lack this, and they end up looking arrogant. Expecting everyone to speak your language is a little bit self-centred, don’t you think? Now everything is easier; you can search anything in the translator when needed, but making an effort shouldn’t be discarded. No one’s going to have a stroke for trying.
Having said this, I believe in the prevalence of kindness. You hold up so much power by staying kind. Don’t lose your magic charm.
Lots of love,
Adriana <3