Freedom of speech – is it everything?

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Freedom of speech - is it everything?

Over the past few weeks my feed has been filled with book week costumes. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s been book month, not week. Cute kids in cute creations. Proud mammas showing off their genius. I shrank a little inside when a kind soul pointed out kids should be dressing as book characters, not movie or sporting heroes. You see, I’d love to make something strictly book related and awesome with my son. I sew, I’m crafty and I’m partial to Facebook bragging rights. Book week and I should be made for each other. But my boy insisted on going as that modern-day literary hero, Christiano Ronaldo.

Seems he wasn’t the only kid who wanted to emulate his sporting hero. A little boy dressed up as Nic Naitanui, his mother artificially darkened his skin and the rest is history. (If you missed it: the whole story and a thoughtful response by Amy of Hangbag Mafia)
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Being Kind at Christmas – why is it so hard?

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At a time of year meant to be filled with joy, kindness and goodwill, I often encounter the opposite. Car-parks, time and nerves are all in short supply and the kids have only just started holidays. Why is it so hard to be kind at Christmas?

Just be kind

The other day I was in our local shopping centre and it should have come with M15+ strong language warning. Arguments over who saw a car-park first,  people ignoring give-way signs and other people swearing at them for doing so, patience running thin at checkouts and people squeezing into too-full lifts. Apparently, no-one with kind word, only exasperation about being one of many who decided to shop that day.  Read more…

Being Kind to the One I Love

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Being kind to the one I loveOne day, in the hard to imagine future, my boys will leave home. I will tearfully help them pack. I will hope they return for dinners but manage their own washing and ironing. I will be faced with an empty nest and seek comfort in my husband’s arms. The man who made these boys with me. Our greatest achievement. And when our lives become less about our children and more about each other, I want to turn towards someone I still love with every ounce of my being. I don’t want to turn towards a stranger.  Read more…

I’m away – can you feed my blog? And other nice things bloggers do for each other.

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I'm Away_ Can you feed my blog?Today 1000 plus bloggers will join their voices talking about compassion. My voice will be amongst them. I wanted to write something profound, but nothing came to me. I wanted to write something that might spark change, but my mind went blank. There are so many places where compassion is lacking – the way we treat refugees, the way we treat the mentally ill, the way we treat people who might look or act differently, the way we treat our earth, the way we treat our elders, the way we treat the original caretakers of our country, the way we treat ourselves: the list is seemingly endless. Compassion is something that is so sorely needed in so many arenas. But somewhere I see so much compassion is within the blogging community. Read more…

Kindness, weirdness and being kind anyway

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Being kind is always a good ideaI believe the majority of people are intrinsically kind. In the last little while I have been gifted a box of mangoes by a stranger who didn’t want to see them wasted. A young man helped me get baby E’s pram up a long flight of stairs (so grateful). I rang a government call centre, expecting to be frustrated, and was instead assisted by the most lovely and helpful lady.

I have been the beneficiary of kindness from strangers and my beautiful friends and family. I think most of us experience these kindnesses, if we stop to think about it. I think most of us give out kindness, without stopping to think about it. But sometimes we do think about it. We think too much about it and we get in the way of our own good intentions.  Read more…