Usefulness = Kindness. Taking a nod from writer Eva Fenn (she wrote for “The Kind Blog” about the connection between kindness and being useful to one’s self as an act of kindness), I had the pleasure to write about World Kindness Day in 2020. Click here to see what this event entails.
Rather than rehash the meaning of World Kindness Day I want to bolster Fenn’s writing about what it means to be useful as an act of kindness. Although there is great merit in doing kind and compassionate things towards others, I want to propose as Fenn did the notion of being kind to yourself by doing things that are meaningful to you. Fenn proposes that when we are useful to ourselves by doing things that help us have a good day, we are in essence doing a kindness towards ourselves. I would add that as we do a usefulness/kindness act towards ourselves, it sets us up to foster or do kind things towards others - a kind of two for the price of one transaction that can foster kindness in a forward direction.
What is useful then? It could be getting to sleep on time, making a snack or having a treat you’ve been holding back on, making something you can look at and appreciate, listening to a meaningful song, taking a picture while on a walk outside or journaling about what made you feel good this week. Regardless of what you do as a means of kindness and usefulness, consider making that time for yourself as an act of kindness that will lift your mood which can be an encouragement to others while bolstering kindness to the world around you.
Lou Lim, LMHC, REAT is a licensed mental health counselor and registered expressive arts therapist (REAT) with a master's degree in Expressive Therapy and Mental Health Counseling from Lesley University. He is a member of the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association and on the committee for REAT credentialing. He has 13 years of experience in counseling and expressive therapy working with children, adolescents, teenagers, adults, and retirees.
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