It feels like the whole world is on fire. So many difficult and horrible things are happening right now and there is no end in sight. But the disruption from COVID-19 isn’t just an obstacle. It’s also an opportunity to examine our old ways and imagine new ones. How do we start?

Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness.

Charlie Chaplin

We need smart. We have lots of challenges to overcome if everyone on our tiny planet is to live comfortable, healthy, safe lives. Fortunately, there are plenty of smart people in the world doing great things with their cleverness. But smart alone is not enough. Intelligence without compassion is in danger of creating more problems than it solves, of destroying as it tries to create.

We need kindess, too. Sometimes, it feels like kindness is harder to come by, especially in a world with social media storms of anger and hate. The more polarized the country becomes, the less chance smart has to fix things. Without applying some kindness first, how can we expect anyone to listen to our point of view?

Today, I will do my best to be kind.

To myself.

To others.

To everyone.

If we want to heal the world, we must first of all be kind.

How are you doing with the continued COVID-19 isolation? How can you be kind today?