The Case for Kindness

by Trish Milburn

When we decided to start the Wet Noodle Posse e-zine in the summer of 2004, there was a lot of discussion about what it should and shouldn’t be. We didn’t want it to be just an author promotion site, though that could be an element. We did want it to be uplifting and informational for women. What was eventually born was a monthly e-zine filled with articles on all kinds of topics of interest to women. That makes sense since every member of the Wet Noodle Posse is a woman – ones who care for not only their family and friends but also their communities, their countries and womankind everywhere.

A friend of mine has been collecting quotes for quite some time, and she recently sent me her file of favorites. Three on the first page struck me as particularly applicable to the ladies who make up the Wet Noodle Posse:

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”
--Mark Twain

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
--Anne Frank

“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.”
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

The WNP ladies are all about kindness and support, and I think that’s reflected in the material covered in the e-zine each month. For instance, the February issue, now online, has articles about scleroderma, a disease that took the life of one of our own recently; Dr. Debra Holland’s suggestions for uplifting and motivational reading material; a craft piece detailing how to make a decorative box in which to store your love letters; recipes for scrumptious Valentine’s Day desserts; a travel article about things to see and do in the open land around bustling Las Vegas; and a profile of Maryanne Capelluti, a Noodler who passed away in January. If you’re a writer, you won’t want to miss the article on how to write great kisses. And if you’ve missed any of our previous issues – no worries! They’re all archived for your reading enjoyment.

We live in a hectic, tiring and often scary world, but if you’ll take those quotes by Twain, Frank and Emerson to heart and spread kindness every day, not only will you be a bright spot in someone else’s day, you’ll also bring joy and a lighter heart into your own.

For a lot more information on kindness and how to spread it, check out The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation.

posted by Trish Milburn @ 8:42 AM