We Are Hurting.

Kindness is my religion. - HHDL

Fundari, kettari.

Stepped on, then kicked.

That's the Japanese expression for what we are going through right now. Ukraine feels like the latest toppling piece in a cascade of doomsday dominoes, each superseding our memory of what came before.

And plenty has. Here in Tokyo, it's 11 years to the day since the triple disasters of March 11, 2011. First earthquakes. Then tsunamis. Then the unthinkable: nuclear meltdown.

My late teacher said that whenever a tragedy occurs anywhere in the world, everyone in the world loses a tiny shard of our collective humanity. Bit by bit, our sense of balance is being chipped away. 

How do we keep our sanity when all the world seems determined to go mad? How might we refocus our attention on making the situation better?

One thing that always helps is kindness. Kindness is something we are born with. It’s just that in the rush of events, we forget to tap into this simple source of comfort and resilience.

Once we remember, kindness comes naturally.

That's why we need practice to keep kindness alive. We need practices. Kindness Practices.

Welcome to Kindness Practices dot com. Here you will find, in coming weeks and months, a growing number of useful approaches for bringing a little more kindness into our lives. Into our moments, our situations, our conversations. Bringing a little more kindness back into our hearts.

The shards of our humanity are hurting our feet. Kindness Practices are a pair of sandals to ease our journey back to wellness. Come join me on this path!