Self-Kindness (A #1000Speak "Nurture" Post)

February 20 marked the start of an amazing movement - 1000 Voices for Compassion. One thousand plus bloggers came together to flood the blogosphere with posts dedicated to the theme of compassion. I wrote a post simply called "1000 Voices Speak for Compassion." A month later, on March 20, the movement continued and bloggers posted around the theme of "Building Beyond Bullying." This time I wrote something a little outside of the theme, but with an important message nonetheless: "Positive Stereotypes, Do They Exist?" Now it is April 20 and the theme for this month's post is "Nurture." Once again bloggers are linking up and spreading goodness across the globe. The link up is live until Noon GMT on April 21 so why not join us? After that you can still read all of the blogs (the link up will just be closed) and find us on Twitter @1000Speak and with the hashtag #1000Speak.

Besides the fact that 1000Speak is an incredibly beautiful initiative to be a part of, I'm also participating because it fits so well with my own project that will come to life in 2016. B(e) Kind 366 is a kindness project that I have been dreaming about bringing into existence for a few years now. In 2016, that dream will become a reality! I'll be doing a Random (or not) Act of Kindness (RAK) every day of the year in 2016 and raising funds for World University Service of Canada, an organization that has changed my life.

Throughout the month of April I have been taking part in the A to Z Challenge and posting lists of Random Acts of Kindness ideas for each letter. While it is wonderful to perform kind acts for others, it is equally, if not more important, to treat ourselves with the kindness we deserve, to NURTURE ourselves. With that in mind, I thought I would provide a few self-kindness ideas in honour of April's 1000Speak theme while still keeping with my A-Z theme.

Keep a Happiness Folder - when something makes you laugh, when you have one of those really great days, when you receive a compliment, when you are the recipient of a RAK, jot your recollection of those moments down and put them in a folder (or jar, or box). On those days that really aren't so great, pull it out and remember happier days!

Literally STOP and smell the flowers.

Practice Mindfulness - There are a number of ways to incorporate simple acts of mindfulness into your day. I'll give you two. Mindful eating - sit in silence with your food, look at it (at the colours, the textures, the arrangement on the plate), smell it (what is the scent of each individual item? what is the scent of the whole plate together), take a bite and just hold it in your mouth for a moment without chewing, roll it around (how does it feel in your mouth? what flavours can you taste? are all of your taste buds engaged? bitter? sour? salty? sweet?), finally chew slowly and as you swallow imagine the nutrients entering your blood stream. At least once a week try to have a meal where you really appreciate and are mindful of your food. Journey of the Senses - whenever you are feeling overwhelmed or just whenever you feel the urge, stop what you are doing and stand or sit still. List off five objects that you see. Close your eyes and list five sounds that you hear. Then breathe in deeply through your nose and list five scents that you can smell. Finally, list five flavours that you can taste. Try to do this at least once a day; it's a really effective way to be fully present in any given moment and focus on things that allow us to clear our minds of clutter.

Relax - lie down and close your eyes. Starting at the top of your head consciously think about your entire body relaxing one part at a time. Think about the tension leaving the back of your head, your neck, your shoulders, and continue down the back of your body to your toes. Once you have relaxed each individual toe, work your way up the front of your body. Think about the tension leaving the tops of your feet, the fronts of your ankles, legs, knees, thighs, etc, all the way back to the top of your head. I promise you, you will be relaxed by the time you are finished. The key is keeping your mind focused on your body relaxing.

And finally - any kind thing that you would do to nurture someone else, do to nurture yourself every once in a while! Buy yourself a gift. Write yourself a poem. Send yourself a letter.

A-Z Challenge: Random Acts of Kindness beginning with "N"

Throughout the A-Z Challenge I'll be blogging through the alphabet using each letter to create a list of Random Acts of Kindness. I've been collecting RAK ideas for some time now as I gear up to the 2016 launch of a project dear to my heart: B(e) Kind 366. I'll be performing an act of kindness every day of the leap year starting January 1st, 2016 while raising funds for World University Service of Canada (WUSC), an organisation that changed my life.

I'm starting each post with a synonym (of sorts) for kindness. I added this part to my posts because of an amazing movement I am a part of 1000 Voices Speak for Compassion. We link up monthly and blog about changing the world for the better. It's magical really. We're even on Twitter! @1000Speak

N is for Nurture

The really neat thing about this synonym is that "nurture" happens to be the 1000Speak theme for April. I chose the word for my "N" post before 1000Speak chose it for their April theme. Kind minds think alike!

Husky Raised by Cats Acts Like a Cat

Nature – spend some time it. Take on a 30 minutes a day for 30 days nature challenge. 

Negativity – counteract it with positivity. Ex. For every negative facebook post you see, post something positive!

New NeighbourWelcome Basket

News – watch it, read it. Read online news from another country to gain global perspective. 

That's it; that's all for "N"! I'm always looking for more RAK ideas so if any come to mind please do post them in the comments!

Check out my super fun "If Jane Austen Blogged A-Z" post, test your Janeite knowledge, and win some Jane Austen swag!

International Day of Happiness (March 20)

I'm writing this post for a few reasons: 

1. A few days from now, upwards of 1000 bloggers will come together to create a list of blog posts all following the same theme: Compassion. March 20th marks the second installment of 1000 Voices Speak for Compassion (#1000Speak) and this time the theme gets a bit more specific: "Building Beyond Bullying." You can find the first set of 642 blog posts from February 20 here. The link up for the March 20 posts will be live on that date so if you are interested in participating (and please do) just keep an eye on the 1000 Voices Speak for Compassion facebook page that I linked to above or keep an eye on @1000Speak on Twitter. 

2. I don't think the organizers of 1000Speak realised it, but March 20 also just so happens to be the International Day of Happiness. The point of the movement is to encourage people to reach out and make at least one positive connection on that day in person or online. You can get involved and download your own Happiness Pack from their website. All of the #1000Speak participants are already taking action for happiness whether they realise it or not simply by sharing their positive blog posts far and wide. Adding one more hashtag (#IDOH) is all it would take to acknowledge the International Day of Happiness and take part in the initiative!

3. I've gotten myself back into blogging this year in an effort to garner support for a huge project I am undertaking in 2016. B(e) Kind 366 has been in the making for a couple of years now and I'm finally going to have the time to dedicate to it come January. Every day of the year (366 because 2016 is a leap year) I'll be performing a random act of kindness as well as launching different events to raise funds for World University Service of Canada's Student Refugee Program, an organisation and program that has changed my life over the ten years I have been involved with it and continues to inspire me daily.  

If happiness, compassion, and kindness don't go together, I don't know what does! 

1000 Voices Speak For Compassion (#1000Speak)

Brilliant, right?!

This post is part of the amazing initiative 1000 Voices Speak for Compassion. On February 20, around the world humanity is pulling together to flood the blogosphere, twitter, and facebook with kindness and compassion. If you're stopping by on the 20th and want to take part or even just read more #1000Speak posts, here is the link up, but in all honesty, today and everyday, let's just all be kind!

Here are my thoughts for UN World Day of Social Justice:

In a group therapy session a few months ago, the leader asked all of the members to introduce themselves and to include the thing(s) that were most to us. My "simple" answer was family, but my "more complicated" answer was social justice and equality. Life gets a little complicated when those two things collide. I have family members who are openly racist toward Muslims despite the fact that many of my friends practice Islam. I have other family members who think it's funny to make racist jokes about First Nations people despite the fact that I recently married a Syilx man. It's simple to disassociate with friends and delete contacts on facebook who feel the need to post hateful messages, but with family that's just not an option for me. So, I've decided what I need to do is take a lesson from the Quba Islamic Institute and come up with creative responses to hate. We are so quick to respond to hate with hate and it gets us nowhere. In fact, it moves us further away from any sort of conceivable utopia. Consider what the world would look like if acceptance was received on the sole fact that we are all human, if we could escape stereotypes and labels and put ourselves in the positions of others before we pass judgement.

When I watched this video, taken in downtown Toronto, Canada, I cried. I'll say they were tears of joy because they were, but a part of that joy still comes from the sorrow that drives this man's actions in the first place. Why are we more shocked by the strangers that stop to hug him than we are by the fact that he is standing there with these signs in the first place? Imagine if every person who saw this man hugged him and then imagine if this situation never had to exist in the first place! Regardless of whether you are Muslim or not would you be brave enough to do this in the city where you live? Would you stage a similar action with signs identifying yourself as Transgender (or any other non-heteronormative gender), or Schizophrenic (or any other mental illness), or any number of labels that would place you within a stigmatised group of people that exists outside the social "norm"? I like to think I am, but I don't know if that's really the truth.  

I dream of a day when media headlines more often include words like "kindness" and "peace" than "hatred" and "war". We can all do our part to ensure that dream comes true. I've been a RAKtivist for some time now and I challenge everyone who reads this to become one too. RAK stands for Random Act of Kindness and over the past few years I've made a conscious effort to be kinder. Sometimes opportunities to be kind just present themselves and sometimes they take a little more planning. In 2012 I spent one hundred days doing a RAK each day and keeping track of what I did. In 2013, I turned 29 on January 29 and performed 29 RAKs throughout that day. I challenged others to perform their own randomly kind acts and the result was nothing short of magical. Fifty-one people in seven countries on five continents performed seventy Random Acts of Kindness! It was the best birthday I've ever had! 

In 2016 I am launching an even bigger project in the hopes of inspiring as many people as possible to change the world with kindness. B(e) Kind 366 has been in the planning stages for a few months now and will have the finishing touches put on it throughout 2015. I hope I can entice you all to join in the fun and perhaps even create a kindness challenge of your own. 

Kindness and compassion can and will change the world, we just have to put forth the effort!