Kindness is Contagious

“Years ago my mother used to say to me, she’d say, ‘In this world, Elwood, you must be’ – she always called me Elwood – ‘In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.’ Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.” ~ James Stewart as Elwood P. Dowd in the movie, Harvey

“No act of kindness is ever wasted.” ~ Aesop

“Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” ~ Princess Diana

Harvey (1960) is a very famous movie and one of James Stewarts favorites of his own movies. I must admit, I only saw it for the first time about a year ago and loved it. It’s about a middle aged man who claims that a six-foot tall rabbit named Harvey is his very best friend. Most people can’t see Harvey, and for the most part they humor Elwood, because he’s not only pleasant, but kind and generous as well. His sister isn’t one of his fans, however. She thinks he’s crazy and wants to put him in an institution. But the point of this movie is that being kind is contagious and in the end, Elwood has a profound positive affect on those around him.

We returned from vacation a week ago and I have to say that all those months of being locked down has had a profound affect on people. Almost everyone we met was not only pleasant, but kind as well, which made our trip so lovely. Each brief interaction buoyed my spirits. It was like people were hungry for positive human interaction after long isolation.

It occurred to me this morning that to be kind, we must be emotionally intelligent and stable. So, when someone isn’t kind, perhaps being pleasant and kind to them might give them a slight ray of hope. I don’t know about you, but when I’ve been distressed or depressed, it’s difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But someone giving me a smile, or being kind to me has helped shift my perception and made it easier to move forward.

I hope we continue to be pleasant to each other because if we do, we can be like Elwood P. Dowd subtly changing the lives of those around us.

I’m grateful to those of you who follow and read this blog. Have a pleasant week ahead and maybe go watch Harvey.

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2021

Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards.

Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.

The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version is published.

Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a new podcast where she and her guests discuss the stories in all formats that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me.