Humans are inherently kind. Sometimes we need to be reminded of that. And of course, The Kwan.
Growing up, I watched the movie Jerry Maguire close to a hundred times. Every bit of the beginning of that movie gave a 10 yr old boy direction. Theres no way I’m as good as any of these kids, but our main character, I could get behind. Look at how many people he is helping! He has a really hot girlfriend and gets to be with the athletes. This Jerry guy (Tom Cruise) seems to make good money and have a lot of friends. It all “clicked” for me. We matched up on qualities, great smile, happy, likes to talk to people. I wanted to be in every bit of that life and Jerry Maguire was the blueprint.
Following the aforementioned opening of the movie, something “clicked” for Jerry as well. It went right over my head, as most things did at 10 yrs old. I was more focused on all of it “clicking” in my home town of Miami. Things went all out of whack and poor Jerry just wanted to be loved. Another feeling I could really resonate with. It wouldn’t be until 28 years later -tonight, Wed Oct 4- that the scene would “click” on exactly what my adolescent role-model was breaking through, having just gone through it myself.
Break Down? More like Break THROUGH
Life is fucking poetic, man. Rewatching the scene brought me back to a lot. I had a lot of those same feelings Jerry describes. The feeling of not being able to escape your own thoughts, hating your “place” in the world, and ultimately having some much to say with no one to listen. This entire post was set to be about assuming best intent in others. As the ADHD quickly took me through my past as I brushed my teeth ahead of writing and the content was already written.
(Plays Moment of Clarity)
“And then it happened. It was the oddest and most unexpected thing” Jerry explains as he fired up his 1996 laptop. Book of Kind was born.
You can call this whole thing a mission statement, not a memo, a mission statement. His was titled The Things We Think and Do Not Say. Book of Kind will focus on taking readers back to school on the first rule we were all taught. The “be a decent human being” one. Just like Jerry, I’ll be the first to admit: this is touchy feely. Totally agree, talking about kindness can feel “dorky” and it can all sound super preachy. No one has arrived with any divinity around here.
The truth is, tensions are higher than ever and in an ever changing world, the ability to gain context is becoming more and more difficult. Why does context matter when it comes to kindness? It’s everything. When we practice kindness specific to any situation, context is what makes the act meaningful and sticky. It’s assuming best intent. We believe the lack of context is pushing interactions from ok to bad, quick. There are always a moments of contention where we may lose sight of our kind nature. It’s usually followed by a ton of guilt and “could’ve should’ve‘s”. Humans are inherently kind, sometimes we need to be reminded of that.
The Book of Kind hopes to serve as your reminder that humanity is kind and willing to help, when safe. We want to motivate and encourage people to live a kinder life. There is no vision of what this will all look like, hell, there was no vision for this post. We’re going to lead with kindness and see where we end up – there’s inspiration everywhere. The Kwan.
“That’s how you become great, man,” says the insightful clerk at the Kinkos as Jerry proofs the overnight mission statement cover ahead of distribution, “hang your balls out there”. Thanks?
😳 Wtf did I just do?
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Love the content and this message couldn’t be more on brand – you’ve always walked the walk when it comes to the golden rule. Looking forward to more of this!
Loving this message. Let’s continue to spread kindness. This works needs a lot more of it.