Happy Monday and happy World Kindness Week! As always, I look forward to every Monday because they are my 52 Chances each year, in which I get to share Memories of My Mom with all of you!
‘No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.’ – Aesop
This week, people all around the world are celebrating World Kindness Week! Not only that but also, this Saturday will be World Kindness Day! It was on November 13th, 23 years ago, when the “World Kindness Movement” (which involves over 28 nations) launched the first World Kindness Day. That event later evolved into this week-long observance.
There are a few kindness “celebrations” throughout the year, such as National Random Acts of Kindness Week, which is in February. Kindness is so important to civilized societies that it’s celebrated often. This week, it’s celebrated world-wide!
As I wrote about in February blog post, there’s an amazing alliance, all around the world, that intends to evolve society for the better through DAILY Random Acts Of Kindness. Their website, by the same name, promotes making random acts of kindness “the norm” and offers a lot of great stories and other inspirations about different ways to spread kindness throughout the week.
There are many reasons for celebrating and promoting kindness! For one thing, kindness is known to have a lot of physical and mental health benefits for, both, the givers and the receivers, alike – okay, that’s two things! Regardless, something so simple, as being kind, literally changes lives – not only those of the receivers, but also those of the givers.
Science has proven many health benefits linked to being kind. Even psychiatrists agree that being kind to others empowers energy and self-esteem. According to The Science Of Kindness, being kind makes people happier; which causes a ripple effect, as it’s well-known to be good for our hearts and blood pressure, too. Those benefits help us live longer.
Like smiling, about which I wrote in June, kindness activates certain networks in our brains, positively improving feelings, attitudes, and mindsets; while reducing stress, anxiety, and tension. Being kind and receiving kindness, both, prompt the brain to reduce cortisol and produce more endorphins and serotonin, which simply makes you feel good.
‘Greatness is measured by kindness… real worth is measured by consideration and tolerance of others.’ – B.C. Forbes
Even a drop of kindness can go a long way. Random acts of kindness have been found to be an infectious and essential part of society. In every community, it helps to bridge the divide over race, religion, gender, politics and other such things. Kindness is a beautiful thing – no matter whether you’re the giver or the receiver.
While kindness doesn’t really make the world go ‘round (as that’s a gravitational thing), it does make the ride more enjoyable! Many believe that kindness is a contagious behavior that has the potential to change the whole world! It often sets off a pay-it-forward ripple effect. In that aspect, shouldn’t we all make ripples?
Mom was a big advocate for being loving and kind to others. She tried to be a positive example, lifting up others through her writings – from her Food-For-Thought syndicated columns (throughout the 1960s and 1970s) to her hundreds of self-published newsletters (January 1974 through December 2000) and over 40 cookbooks (1973- 2018).
‘THE GREATEST WASTE in the world is the difference between what we are, and what we could be!’ – Gloria Pitzer, This is not a Cook Book! It’s Gloria Pitzer’s Food for Thought (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; Oct. 1986, p. 10)
Mom loved to combine her unique, copycat recipes (aka: food-for-the-table) and household hints with food-for-thought articles, and food-for-the-soul inspirations – like a homemade quilt! That’s part of what made her books and newsletters stand out from all the rest!
Mom also wrote a few books that were full of just her food-for-thought editorials and inspirational ideas. Throughout, Mom would continuously emphasize the importance of being kind and loving and really caring about each other. She held a strong faith in Love and all the things it could overcome and yield. Mom would often inter-changed the word “Love” with “God”.
FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…
As seen in…
This is not a Cook Book! It’s Gloria Pitzer’s Food for Thought (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; Oct. 1986, p. 30)
MAKING PEOPLE HAPPY
HAVE YOU EVER HAD your day suddenly turn sunshiny because of a cheerful word? Have you ever wondered if this could be the same world because someone had been unexpectedly kind to you. You can make today [that way] for somebody! It’s only a question of a little imagination, a little time and trouble. Think now, ‘What can I do today, to make someone happy?’
Is a single heart rejoicing over what you did or said?
Does the one whose hopes were fading, now with courage, look ahead?
Do you waste the day or lose it? Was it well or sorely spent?
Did you leave a trail of kindness or a scar of discontent?
As you close your eyes in slumber, do you think that God will say,
‘You have earned one more tomorrow, by the work you did today.’?
Since we were toddlers, in pre-school and Kindergarten, we’ve been taught to be nice and kind to others. According to Wikipedia’s interpretation of All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Fulghum “explains how the world would be improved if adults adhered to the same basic rules as children, i.e. sharing, being kind to one another, cleaning up after themselves, and living ‘a balanced life’ of work, play, and learning.”
It’s a shame that the simple act of being kind to others is forgotten by many after they leave kindergarten. If a kindergartener can understand its importance to society, shouldn’t we all?
‘Happy is the person who has a good supply of the milk of human kindness and knows how to keep it from souring.’ – Gloria Pitzer, This is not a Cook Book! It’s Gloria Pitzer’s Food for Thought (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; Oct. 1986, p. 17)
MORE FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…
As seen in…
Gloria Pitzer’s Mixed Blessings – Recipes & Remedies (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; March 1984, p. 15)
KITCHEN DESIGN
COOKING IS ONE OF THOSE personal accomplishments that afford us all the opportunity to express ‘talent’. We love being approved of. In fact, we eat it up! It’s the little pat on the back that gives us the incentive to continue trying. And where else, but in the kitchen, can you try to win approval with such satisfying results!
I’m very partial to my kitchen because it is the one place in our home where I feel the most comfortable! Whether I’m there alone, working on a recipe, or sitting at my desk, looking for inspiration on a new article I’m writing, or sharing a cup of coffee with a neighbor or a friend, who’s dropped by – it’s my favorite room!
I have a desk in the kitchen right next to the [sliding glass] door…that overlooks the yard. Our daughter, Debbie, and our son-in-law, Jim, gave me a flowering Crab [Apple] tree last Mother’s Day, which they planted right in the middle of the yard. I can enjoy it’s flowers each spring; also the very long bare, red branches during the autumn and it’s snow-covered limbs all winter.
It’s my sundial, by which I observed the seasons and the changes involved with this natural wonder. While the Scotch pines around this little tree never change, never go through the transition of bud to blossom to barren branches and then buds again, I can see the contrasts that are parallel to our own personal predicaments.
Some things, places – and yes, even people – never seem to change, while others go through budding and blossoming and withering away, only to come right back to life again in the sunshine of human kindness; as does my tree, in the sunshine of the seasons.
EVEN MORE FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…
As seen in…
This is not a Cook Book! It’s Gloria Pitzer’s Food for Thought (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; Oct. 1986,, p. 41)
SUNSHINE
SUNSHINE IN THE MORNING, moonlight at night, the fragrance of gardens, the deep silence of harvest fields, [and] the musical rattle of tea cups bring us rays of warmth, flooding through the open windows of the mind.
The laughter of happy children, the familiar tread of love [from] approaching feet, a beautiful thought, a pleasant dream, a letter, a kindly greeting, a worthwhile job to do, a joke, a song, a kindness received (and remembered) – these are things which cost us nothing but enrich us beyond all telling!
LAST THOUGHTS…
IN CLOSING…
Since tomorrow is National Scrapple Day, here is Mom’s secret recipe for Scapegoat Scrapple; as seen in her self-published cookbook, Gloria Pitzer’s Mixed Blessings – Recipes & Remedies (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; March 1984, p. 40)
P.S. Food-for-thought until we meet again, next Monday…
Some November month-long observances include… Banana Pudding Lovers Month, Diabetic Eye Disease Month, Epilepsy Awareness Month, Gluten-Free Diet Awareness Month, Historic Bridge Awareness Month, National Diabetes Month, National Fun with Fondue Month, National Native American Heritage Month, National Peanut Butter Lovers Month, National Pepper Month, National Pomegranate Month, National Raisin Bread Month, National Roasting Month, Spinach and Squash Month, Sweet Potato Awareness Month (see February also), and National Vegan Month!
Additionally, as of yesterday, it’s also Dear Santa Letter Week and National Young Reader’s Week, which is always the second week of November.
Furthermore, today is also… National Cappuccino Day, National Harvey Wallbanger Day, and National Parents As Teachers Day!
Tomorrow, November 9th is also… National Louisiana Day!
Wednesday, November 10th is… U.S. Marine Corps Birthday, National Forget-Me-Not Day, and National Vanilla Cupcake Day!
Thursday, November 11th is… National Sundae Day and Veterans Day!
Friday, November 12th is… National French Dip Day, National Pizza with the Works Except Anchovies Day, and National Chicken Soup for the Soul Day!
Saturday, November 13th is… National Indian Pudding Day!
Sunday, November 14th is… National Family PJ Day, National Pickle Day, and National Spicy Guacamole Day! It’s also my birthday! Plus, it’s the start of National Book Award Week!
…45 down and 7 to go!
