My Personal Story
The day after my mother passed away, I went for my usual morning walk on the beach. Walking over the dune, I passed by a few people leaving the beach. I smiled and said good morning to them. On the outside, I probably looked happy, but inside I was raw, tender, and emotional.
I thought, “we don’t always know what someone else may be dealing with in their life.” This moment reminded me of the importance of being kind to people and inspired my song Be Kind, especially the first 2 lines:
“You don’t know if one is hurting, you don’t know if one is in pain.”
Be Kind Video | Written By Ann Purcell & Performed By Olivia Seibel
The World Is Hurting
Many people we know are struggling in their life—the homeless, drug addicts, or someone who has lost a job, etc. We usually don’t think the person we walk by at the beach or the person sitting next to us at a dinner party is also struggling with events or people in his or her life. On the surface, they may seem to have everything in life. No one is immune from bad things happening, no matter how well-off they are.
Being kind does not mean we have to be altruistic, hug everyone we see, or give them a handout. We simply need to be respectful, considerate, and careful with our words and with emotions toward other people.
Sometimes we are not feeling good inside, leading to an outburst of anger, which we regret afterward. We don’t intentionally want to hurt other people. Therefore, it is important to also be kind to ourselves.
The whole world is hurting these days. Our politics have become polarized and tribal, whereby people can’t talk to each other. Social media is filled with unkind, even cruel statements that are not helping our national dialog but are degrading it. Bullying is also prevalent in schools and on the internet. Therefore, if we want to have a kinder world, we need to start by being kinder in our communities—our family, friends, and even strangers. I appreciate it when someone is unexpectedly kind to me and I am sure you do as well.
I don’t have any illusions that a song called Be Kind will change the world. I often write songs on subjects that I want to be reminded about. This is one of those songs and my wish is that it can be a gentle reminder to you of the importance of being alert that people you know may need a little extra kindness in their life.
