I started off 2019 doing something a little different with playful + peaceful. I chose a theme to focus on in January. This was a very loose theme – I didn’t feel tied to it, but I did try to think of a few posts that related to this theme, and it helped me to brainstorm and to focus my writing all month long.
The theme for January was rhythm and routine. Even though I’m not quite done with all of my rhythm and routine posts, I’ve decided to announce my theme for February: kindness.
I thought of this during December 2018. I kept seeing Advent kindness calendars on Facebook, with a kind action for every day of December leading up to Christmas. I love this idea, and I think I’m going to try it out next year. I especially love the idea of involving Edgar and J.J. in this Kindness Advent as they get older.
I chose kindness for February because I like to think of Valentine’s Day as a holiday all about expressing love for the world around you. (I’m not so into it as a romantic holiday; I’ll eat the chocolates if Tamara gets me some, but they’re not required or missed if they don’t show up.)
Lately, it almost feels like life is too full and to busy to even think about all the things I want to do! My life is work, child care, and sleep. It’s hard enough having the energy to be patient and kind with the three humans I live with; do I have the ability, the time, to do kind things for acquaintances, for strangers?
Of course I do. Even if I can’t get it done, I’m at least going to give it a try. I think that sometimes just TRYING to be kind makes the world a little bit better.
I’m not sticking with any one kindness calendar; I’ve reviewed a few different ones, so that I’ll have lots of ideas to choose from.
Happy Heart Day; be kind.