9/11: On Kindness

I'm sharing this photo taken last week, when I was waiting for my flight to take me home to L.A. from the eastern seaboard airport shutdown caused by Hurricane Irene. That's my bag, purchased from a surf shop many years ago. It's a favorite because no one else would want it. The flip flops, the surf bag --it's my frame of mind as I write this.

I'm thinking about a flurry of small mindedness, cynicism and meanness seen on the internet directed at friends, and even a spate of it sent to me. People forget that a medium which brings  people together,  has the same potential to be used to castigate and harass.  There's little to do when a virtual "friend" acts like a rabid dog.  One thing for sure: you really can't get involved with their own self-loathing. Life is far too short for that.

Anyway, I'm supposed to write how 9/11 changed everything for me. But it's too self indulgent, being that as a long-time blogger, I've done that before. So all I can come up with is a lesson learned from it, that enables me not to engage with the bullshit described above.

Hopefully, what 9/11 did for many of us was help us find the courage to tap into a reservoir of kindness at times when we just want to run away and hide from someone in need. Simple things. A nod, a smile, maybe a kind word, or donating --as so many of you do, to causes and needs. Kindness can also mean knowing what not to say, or being wise enough not to start a tornado where none needs to be. Frankly, I think kindness is a great way to honor those who died that horrible day, and also to all those who have sacrificed whether by serving in the military, working as a contractor, or staying home and doing good works for everyone affected by war.

It's a small thing. But as the ultimate New Yorker, the late Brooke Astor once said in an interview: "It's much easier to be nice to everybody. It makes your life much much easier, if you are pleasant."

The fabulous Brooke Astor