Did my last email inspire you to open a door for somebody? I hope so.
I’m still on the kindness train . . .
Kindness, compassion and empathy all together, are a kind of glue that hold our communities together and help them grow strong. These qualities lead to better cooperation and, it turns out, are what our species needs for survival.
Charles Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest is commonly understood to mean that the strongest of a species will survive and thus pass along their strong genes. Culturally, we often think of strength as power over others and that to be successful means to be competitive.
I recently learned that the phrase, survival of the fittest (which Darwin didn’t actually coin), was a misrepresentation of Darwin’s work. Darwin would more likely say survival of the kindest is how we endure. He believed that cooperation, altruism, sympathy/empathy and compassion better help a species survive.
When we practice kindness it strengthens our bonds with the people around us. When a community is well connected, caring about all its members, it’s easier to organize and cooperate in the interest of bettering its circumstances – in effect, to survive and thrive.
All of this gets wrapped up into our simple practice of kindness. Cultivating kindness as a habit not only supports our health and well-being but strengthens our whole community.
Michelle Stortz 