Dianna Edwards and Writing
  • About me
  • Short stories
    • Death in the Desert
    • Secrets
    • Airport Drama
    • Acacia
    • Two Chooks in December
    • A Darned Surprise
    • The Sunset Mermaid
    • Friend or Foe?
    • At Rainbow's End
    • Sisterly Love
    • Good Times to Come
    • Being Famous
    • Something Special for Dinner
    • Walter's Secret
    • The Visitor
  • Children's stories
    • The Red Silk Kite
    • The Singing Tree
    • Beatrice Barnfeather
    • Garth's bath
    • Little Dog Tambo
    • Flowers For a Special Day
  • Non Fiction
    • Letter to a Soldier
    • The Body
    • Autumn Saturday
    • A Year With Billy
    • Lunch
    • Harry's Story
    • 2007 bushfires
    • My Father's Kite
    • Death of a Chook
    • Gentle Heartache
    • Shopping with Sisters
    • When I am Old
    • Matilda
    • Fragments
  • Blog

BLOG

How Do We Remember Kindness?

16/8/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
There are times when we are able to choose between being kind or being dismissive or rude -  even cruel.

During our life times we retain memories of times when people have been cruel or unpleasant towards us and those times can often fester and become troublesome recollections that are difficult to erase.

But memories of times when people have shown kindness, often unexpectedly, are the memories that we can treasure; they are the memories (to coin a phrase) that ‘warm our hearts’.

These two differing memories – of kindness and indifference (or cruelty) are commonly experienced in childhood, when our learning blocks are the experiences we have on a day-to-day basis.

When we, as adults, come across a situation where we feel we can either offer some kindly words or alternately blurt out a sarcastic or hurtful comment, it is perhaps wise to keep in mind our childhood experiences and, even when dealing with adults, choose the kindness path.

The same goes for actions.

I hold memories of a cruel and nasty teacher in whose class I spent a year at the age of eight or nine. So many decades have passed since then, but I am unable to get the unpleasant ‘taste’ of her words and actions out of my memory bank. The mere thought of her can make me shudder.

And yet, I also possess memories of times when people have shown remarkable kindness towards me and those memories do, indeed, ‘warm my heart’, even to the point of threatening to bring a tear of thankfulness to my eye!

I have been reading Anne Manne’s small memoir, “So This is Life” in which she tells a little story of how a woman offered kindly advice to her and her sisters, when the advice could have easily been dished out in a disparaging and quite scathing tone. It is a memory that Anne holds dear, while also accepting that the woman involved probably didn’t even give her comments a second thought.

That’s how easy it is!

I am not hopping on the “Random Acts of Kindness” wagon, that has reached plague proportions so much so that it is almost losing its relevance.

However, I am trying to promote the idea that we should remember the times we experienced kindness as a young person and how it affected us. And that, as grown-ups, nothing much has changed: We still thrive on kind words and deeds and shrivel up when we receive the opposite.


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author notes

    I choose to comment on social issues and write creatively on a variety of subjects -  for a variety of audiences.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012

    Categories

    All
    Childhood
    House
    Kindness
    On Death
    Social Comment
    Writing

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • About me
  • Short stories
    • Death in the Desert
    • Secrets
    • Airport Drama
    • Acacia
    • Two Chooks in December
    • A Darned Surprise
    • The Sunset Mermaid
    • Friend or Foe?
    • At Rainbow's End
    • Sisterly Love
    • Good Times to Come
    • Being Famous
    • Something Special for Dinner
    • Walter's Secret
    • The Visitor
  • Children's stories
    • The Red Silk Kite
    • The Singing Tree
    • Beatrice Barnfeather
    • Garth's bath
    • Little Dog Tambo
    • Flowers For a Special Day
  • Non Fiction
    • Letter to a Soldier
    • The Body
    • Autumn Saturday
    • A Year With Billy
    • Lunch
    • Harry's Story
    • 2007 bushfires
    • My Father's Kite
    • Death of a Chook
    • Gentle Heartache
    • Shopping with Sisters
    • When I am Old
    • Matilda
    • Fragments
  • Blog