On December 14 the nation grieved in unison upon the news of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting. As I’m sure all parents did, I went home and embraced my innocent one year old son who luckily won’t comprehend such malice for what I hope will be many, many years to come.
Since that day, I’ve made a conscious decision to embrace kindness. Call it my way of coping, call it being overly sentimental, or call it the holiday spirit. Whatever the reason, I’d like to spread it on.
However, not everyone seems to be jumping on the kindness bandwagon with me for I’ve come across a variety of articles with the intent of only highlighting others wrongdoings. In the PR world it’s not uncommon to see journalists flaunting bad pitches or sites drawing attention to the year’s worst PR disasters. And I get it. Sometimes, they really are just plain bad. But in wake of last week’s event, I’m tuning out the negativity at least for a day. Willing to join me?
I’ve begun a “Kindness Chain” on Twitter and invited a few of my colleagues to help spread the word. In a pay-it-forward style, they’ll be doing the same to some of their favorite pals. It’s not an effort to make this a trending topic but rather a heartfelt attempt to make others smile upon receipt, if only for a fleeting moment. I hope you’ll join us.
Happy holidays everyone!