When kindness becomes uncertain, it cracks the collective spirit. Trust thins. Cynicism grows. People withdraw, or harden. And yet—despair is not an answer. Because kindness, real kindness, is not a slogan, not a policy, not a moment of sentiment. It is a discipline.
The absence of kindness is noticeable
After the lockdowns, the world didn’t get kinder. And that surprised me.
This is the first story in The Little Book of Kindness — a series of small reflections on everyday acts that quietly change us. I was fifteen, in Narrogin and my Gran had died… this was her funeral, my first experience at losing a loved one.