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kindly Adventures in kindness, generosity & the art of being a nice person.
kindness
Noun [ C/U ] /’kain(d)ns/ the quality of being generous, helpful, and caring about other people, or an act showing this quality.
The Lion and the Mouse A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion’s nose. Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her. “Spare me!” begged the poor Mouse. “Please let me go and some day I will surely repay you.” The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally let the Mouse go. Some days later, while
stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a hunter’s net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse knew the voice and quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free. “You laughed when I said I would repay you,” said the Mouse. “Now you see that even a Mouse can help a Lion.”
“now you see that even a mouse can help a lion”
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Universiy of Oxford The science on being happy and how being kind to others effects your own happiness.
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The Increadable Impact of Witnessing Kindness About peak experiences and other scientific words in use.
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Why is being kind so difficult? A question that always comes up why being kind so hard. So why exactly is it so difficult?
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Kindness in Corona Times In 2020 lots of people were lonely and not feeling very well. It’s more important than ever to be kind!
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Small Acts of Kindness Here is a assoertment of differnt things you can do as small acts of kindness you can do for someone.
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Pay it forward The kindness boomerang and how one act of kindness can set off a long chain of acts of kindness.
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The Helper’s High Being kind to others is as important as being kind to yourself. Read this and get inspired. For Yourself.
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Different cultures / different traditions about being kind Caffè sospesso in Italy and a free pint in England
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Being kind to others does make you happy, concludes large-scale review of evidence -8-
University of Oxford
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Researchers conclude that being kind to others causes a small but significant improvement in subjective well-being. The review found that the effect is lower than some pop-psychology articles have claimed, but also concluded that future research might help identify which kind acts are most effective at boosting happiness. The claim that ‘helping makes you happy’ has become a staple of pop psychology and self-help manuals. Performing ‘random acts of kindness’ has been touted as a sure-fire way of boosting your mood — doing good makes you feel good, as well as benefiting others. But do these claims stack up, or are they ‘too good to be true’?In order to find out, a team from the universities of Oxford and Bournemouth carried out a systematic review of the scientific literature. They analysed over 400 published papers that had investigated the relationship between kindness and happiness, and identified 21 studies that had explicitly put the claim to the test – that being kind to others makes us happier. They then conducted a ‘meta-analysis’, which statistically combines the results of these previous studies. (Studie from Univerity of Oxford)
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Being Kind to Others increases your own Happiness
On this basis, they calculate that there is indeed an overall effect of kindness on happiness, but that the size of the effect is relatively modest — equivalent to less than one point on a 0-10 happiness scale.They also find that lower quality studies tended to claim larger effects than the high quality research, which suggests that the true effect may be even smaller. In addition, - 10 -
they note that existing research does not distinguish between kindness to family and friends versus strangers and, taking this into account, targeted kindness rather than indiscriminate kindness may have a greater effect on happiness. Study lead author Dr Oliver Scott Curry, from the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Oxford, concludes:
‘Humans are social animals. We are happy to help family, friends, colleagues, community members and even strangers under some conditions. This research suggests that people do indeed derive satisfaction from helping others. This is probably because we genuinely care about others’ welfare, and because random acts of kindness are a good way of making new friends, and
University of Oxford
kick-starting supportive social relationships.’He adds: ‘Many groups in the last decade have been keen to establish a link between kindness and happiness, including the UK government. Offering kindness to others has been explored as a possible panacea for many of our social ills, ranging from social isolation to more serious mental and physical health conditions. Our
review suggests that performing acts of kindness will not change your life, but might help nudge it in the right direction. We recommend further research is done to compare the effects of being kind to family and friends as opposed to strangers. This is an area about which we know surprisingly little at the moment.’ The study was commissioned by kindness.org, a new US-based,
non-profit organisation which launched today, along with its digital platform. Funded by an anonymous donor, kindness. org commissions and publicises latest research into altruism, as well as promoting public action through its ‘kindness initiatives’ that encourage people to help one another.
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The Incredible Impact Of Witnessing Kindness
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* Kindness is so powerful that simply witnessing an altruistic act performed by someone else is enough to trigger a ‘peak experience’ — a moment of awe and wonder that makes us feel grateful to be alive. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt describes this type of experience as a “warm feeling in the chest, a sensation of expansion in [the] heart, an increased desire to help, and [an] increased sense of connection with others […it is] a manifestation of humanity’s ‘higher’ or ‘better’ nature.”Altruism and kindness bridges the gap between strangers, and reminds us of our common humanity and our innate desire to help one another. So when we perform acts of kindness, our deeds not only benefit the recipient, but can also have a deep and lasting impact on passers-by.
The Impact of kindness
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I’ve had a lot opportunities years to talk about kindnes questions I’m is,“Why is it
of s over the last k with groups ss. One of the m often asked so hard?�
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Why is it so difficult?
Why is it so difficult to be kind? We all want to be kind. It’s an admirable quality to possess — even witnessing acts of altruism can inspire us to live kinder and more generous lives ourselves. But more often than not, when we try to be kind, we find ourselves held back at the last moment.That’s because there are several obstacles blocking the way to kindness, each of which can drain us of motivation and prevent us from becoming our most selfless selves… Cynicism: some people find it hard to transcend pre-existing cynical attitudes towards kindness, such as believing that their good-natured intentions will be exploited and taken advantage of. Embarrassment: sometimes we sincerely wish to carry out an act of kindness, but hesitate out of fear that the recipient of our deed won’t really need help and might reject us. To be kind is to be vulnerable, and overcoming the fear of potential embarrassment can be one of the biggest hurdles towards engaging in kindness.
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kindness in corona times - 18 -
Kindness during Corona
This year, 2020, was a year that we would have never seen coming and a let’s call it rather special year... Corona made lots of us live in complete isolation staying home alone all the time, seeing absolutely nobody except a pet (if even that company). Corona is a strange time. Where maskes were unknown and a rather abnormal thing, now they are part of our every day life. That is kind of freaky because Corona changed peoples social behavoir. We don’t have contact with people, and when we do, we don’t see their entire faces.. that’s why in corona times it’s even more important to be kind and nice, that’s why we have to act with small acts of kindness, texts, calls, videocahtts, etc. in order to make peoples’ days better. Kindness never looks away. That’s kindness. It doesn’t take much! - 19 -
talking to people and saying something nice to them - 20 -
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Life routine is a system that allows our brain not to waste time and energy on unusual actions. For example, in the morning we have breakfast, or we don’t have time to have breakfast and easily drink coffee on the go, we run, take the subway and scroll through the Facebook feed all the way, not even noticing how half an hour passed. Quarantine is a new circumstance, and for many, it can become a stress factor. We often don’t analyze our daily regime. And when we are locked at home, it turns out that the only thing you miss is communication. Everybody is used to verbal communication and social contact. And here you need to write or call. To do the same in writing, your brain needs to make an energy effort. You need to be patient for the habit to settle. In these strange times it is more important than ever to stay in touch with people. Arrange virtual catch ups, asking people how they are doing and how they are feeling (and how they are really feeling). Corona makes so many people feel lonely and absolutely shitty. Just give them a call and I bet they’ll be happy to hear from you! You have the impact to make someones day better, you can do it! Give your freind a call sho’s studying and being busy just to tell her or him, that they’re doing great! Or call your parents and tell them how much you love them and how much you appreciate them and how happy grateful you are for them. Or call your friends and start a Videochat where you cook something together. Or you arrage a cup of tea with your freinds. Be creative! Even thoough you might feel strange being corona-social: people will be grateful for it and it will make their days better. And yours will be better too. - 21 -
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send someone a message (or a letter if you’re fancy)
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Small acts of kindness
Messages Nowadays, in corona times, it’s more important than ever to stay in touch with your friends an your family and socialise. In days where people are lonely and trying their best to stay mentally healthy, being kind and just sending your friends a message telling them a joke, sending them a picture or just sending them a motivational or inspiring message, or sharing an article you read that they might enjoy, is very important. Just stay in touch. Be kind. - 23 -
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offering help to others
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Small acts of kindness
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Even though you might not think about it - but everyone has a special skill something you’re really good at. So use your skill and help others with it - no matter how. Or (without a special skill) go and ask vulnerable people if and how you can help them (go shopping for them, or cook someone a meal and put it in front of someones door, etc.). You will go shopping anyways and you will have to cook for yourself anyways: just make some more and share it. In the end it really doesn’t matter how good your food is or how much you could buy in the shop! The whole point is that you care and that you help and that you are kind. And that makes people so happy, they feel very special and very happy and very honoured to get help of another person; if that person is a stranger or not doesn’t matter at all! Just do it!
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Small acts of kindness
go volunteereing Volunteering is a thing that hardly anyone does. Somehow helping others without getting any money or anything from it doesn’t sound very appealing... But volunteering is so much more than what people think! Volunteering means helping others that need your help and being kind to others. Instead of getting payed with money you get paid with experiences.
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Ah, kindness. What a simple way to tell another stuggeling soul that there is love to be foud in this world.
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name of chapter
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Did you ever smile at someone who was having a bad day and they then immediately perked up? When you make eye contact and smile at someone you are showing that they matter which gives them a boost of happiness. The best part about it though is that they will then go on and smile at other people spreading the love throughout the day. Many studies have proven that when we look at a smiling face, our brains release endorphins which makes us feel happier and calmer.
name of chapter
how smiling effects those around you
smile at people
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pay it forward
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pay it forward
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Pay it forward is an expression for describing the beneficiary of a good deed repaying the kindness to others instead of to the original benefactor. The concept is old, but the particular phrase may have been coined by Lily Hardy Hammond in her 1916 book In the Garden of Delight. It was popularized by Science Fiction author Robert Heinlein, and then the phrase achieved significant fame from Catherine Ryan Hyde’s 1999 novel Pay It Forward.“Pay it forward” is implemented in contract law of loans in the concept of third party beneficiaries. Specifically, the creditor offers the debtor the option of paying the debt forward by lending it to a third person instead of paying it back to the original creditor. This contract may include the provision that the debtor may repay the debt in kind, lending the same amount to a similarly disadvantaged party once they have the means, and under the same conditions. Debt and payments can be monetary or by good deeds. A related type of transaction, which starts with a gift instead of a loan, is alternative giving. Paying forward was used as a key plot element in the denouement of a New Comedy play by Menander, Dyskolos . Dyskolos was a prizewinning play in ancient Athens in 317 BC; however, the text of the play was lost and it was only recovered and republished in 1957.
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The Helper’s High
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The Helper’s High
It turns out that those who perform kind deeds can benefit almost as much as those who receive them. It’s a concept known as the ‘helper’s high’, and is defined as the onset of positive emotions following a selfless act. More specifically, those who experience this ‘high’ report feelings of elation, exhilaration and increased energy, followed by a period of profound calm and serenity. The idea of a ‘helper’s high’ has been around since the 1980s, and since then its psychological and emotional benefits have been confirmed by multiple studies. This emotional state has even been associated with better health and increased longevity. So if you want to live to be one hundred, carrying out more acts of kindness might be one way to get there.
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kindness around the world Some days, when the world news is full of bad news, it’s hard to remember how much it’s the small acts of kindness that really make us human. We decided to take a look at how people show kindness in eight different countries around the world. Let these stories inspire you to make a difference with a random act of kindness today! Greece: Have you ever wondered how Odysseus managed to travel for so long in the time before hotels? Well, that’s because as far back as ancient times, the Greeks have valued hospitality so much that they even had their own word for it. Xenia is the concept of showing generosity and courtesy towards travellers who are far from home. This idea of ‘guest-friendship’ would see hosts providing a warm welcome, food and bath to weary travellers. These days, these expressions of kindness through hospitality towards strangers is known as philoxenia - 36 -
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Kindness around the world
and can be as simple as welcoming a friend of a friend to stay with you, buying a meal for someone who is homeless or helping out a stranded motorist. Japan:Kindness also stretches back to ancient times in Japan. Senbetsu was once the practice of giving monetary support to close relations who wished to go on a pilgrimage to the great shrines around this beautiful country. Upon return, the pilgrim would bring back a souvenir to say thanks. In modernday Japan, senbetsu is now the practice of giving a goodbye gift to a traveller or to someone who is moving away, leaving a job or just going through a big transition. It can be something that will soften the bumps along the way, such a flowers, a sweet treat or even ‘sending off’ money, to wish them well on their new adventure. Spain:The Camino de Santiago is a famous 500-mile walk that was traditionally a spiritual/religious trek but has since
become a soul-searching pilgrimage for solitary walkers. Recognising that many people who do this trek are on a quite a gruelling and personal journey, the locals in the towns along the route are happy to offer acts of kindness to the weary walkers. Knowns as the ‘Angels of the Camino’, they are happy to provide directions, food, water and even places to sleep or hugs. Bodegas Irache, a vineyard and former monastery, even offers walkers free wine so they can toast happiness. China:Another Buddhist tradition is the practice of mudita - the experience of happiness at other people’s good fortune. It is the opposite of schadenfreude but very similar to the Yiddish concept of naches. This experience of unselfish joy can be achieved through mindfulness and meditation and can be practised in everyday life by mentoring someone junior to you at work or celebrating a friend’s accomplishments. - 37 -
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Kindness around the world
un caffè sospeso
A caffè sospeso (Italian for ”suspended coffee”) or pending coffee is a cup of coffee paid for in advance as an anonymous act of charity. The tradition began in the working-class cafés of Naples, where someone who had experienced good luck would order a sospeso, paying the price of two coffees but receiving and consuming only one. A poor person enquiring later whether there was a sospeso available would then be served a coffee for free.
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Kindness around the world
a free pint in England
In England there’s a tradition similar to the caffè sospeso - it’s a free pint: where someone who had experienced good luck would order a sospeso, paying the price of two pints but receiving and consuming only one. A poor person enquiring later whether there was a sospeso available would then be served a pint for free.
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editors note
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Editors Note
Dear Reader, thank you so much for taking a look at my magazine and hopefully getting inspired by it. On the following page you’ll find a double spread with sqares that have words in it: Take it out, cut it in pieces and leave it in places - on your bus seat, on your coffee plate, on the table at your friends’ house, just leave it wherever you want to spead kindness. I dont know why, but over the last coulpe of years being kind to others turned into one of my goals. ‘Cause I’m thinking that in the end, you don’t
know what people are going through and what day they had. You don’t know anything. Being mean or just absolutely neutral doesn’t make anyone’s day better. You are a person and you have an impact on others - why not use it and make people happy or just give them a smile? It takes so little to make a difference. Nothing stops you. Just do it. Have a wonderful day, Lotte
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I believe in You!
You make a difference!
It’s your decicion
It’s okay You look to be nervous amazing & scared today!
We can learn from mistakes
Thanks for being You
Don’t give up
You light up Just do it! the room
You have special talents
You have special gifts
It’s okay.
Let’s take Nothing a break and stops you! try again
You made my day!
It will get better!
What do You want to do?
You are Nothing is a great example for impossible! others
You look wonderful today!
Take your Take a break You can do and drink time! anything! a cup of tea.
Believe in Yourself!
You can say “No”!
You’re doing You great! improved!
I believe in You!
You are loved
You are brave!
You are wonderful!
I believe in You!
I like you!
Mistakes help us grow
You are strong!
You have a big heart!
I believe in You!
You have a lot to offer
Prove them wrong!
You can do it!
Here’s a place for you
I believe in You!
It’s your decicion
Stay strong!
I believe in You!
This is your life
Everything has an end
Keep up the Your ideas great work! matter
Credits Free University of Bozen-Bolzano Faculty of Design and Art Bachelor in Design and Art – Major in Design WUP 20/21 | 1st-semester foundation course Project Modul: Editorial Design Design by: Lotte Huggel Magazine | Kindly Supervision: Project leader: Prof. Antonino Benincasa Project assistants: Andreas Trenker, Emilio Grazzi
Photography: Leslie Soto - Cover Jake Grella - 2 Cristian Newman - 8 Zach Vessels - 10 Gosia Oledzka - 12 Obi Onyeador - 19 Chad Tetzlaff - 20 Marja Blan - 22 Courtney Nuss - 24 Matt Collamer - 26 Ray Fragapane - 28 Milad B. Fakurian - 30 Joel Muniz - 32 Milad B. Fakurian - 35 Ryan Shumway - 36 Matt Collamer - 38 Florencia Viadana - 40 Gaelle Marcel - 43 Anchor Lee - 44
Format: 200 x 200 mm Fonts | Font Sizes & Leading: Body Text Avenir 10/13.5pt Title Text Avenir 30/30pt Other title text Bodoni Italic 25/30pt Layout Grid: 6 Column Grid Module proportion: 2.909 : 1 CPL | Character per line - Body Text: 54 characters including spaces
Printed: Bozen-Bolzano, January 2021 Digital Printing
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