A Jewel of Human Nature

Definition of kindness: The quality of being warm-hearted, considerate, humane, and sympathetic. - Webster's Online Dictionary

Kindness, that precious jewel of human nature - warm as summer rain, gentle as morning light, steadfast as ancient mountains. Like a river flowing with purpose, it carries within its depths the power to heal, to nurture, to transform.

In the vibrant heart of Trinidad, where my childhood blossomed among a chorus of aunties, I learned kindness's first sweet lessons. We lived close, sometimes too close, like birds in a single nest, our days woven together with prayer and the golden thread of kindness.

When hunger knocked at our door - and it knocked often - whether friend, family or stranger we answered with full plates and open hearts. "Child, have you eaten?" The words rang through our compound like a bell of blessing. "Go see your auntie." Even now, my mother, though memory has stolen her knowing, shares her food with the same grace that shaped my young years. This was our truth: family meant community, and kindness was the foundation upon which we built our days.

But when I crossed oceans to the UK, I encountered a different rhythm, a harsher beat. Achievement became the drummer, productivity the dance. Like a bird in strange skies, I learned new songs - songs of measurement and worth, of fitting in or standing apart.

For years, I marched to this foreign drum, measuring my days in completed tasks, my worth in checked boxes. I gave kindness to others like water from a deep well, never thinking to take a drink myself.

It took grief - that dark teacher - to show me another way. In its shadow, I glimpsed the first light of self-kindness. But like morning mist, it faded when the sun of routine rose again.

Then came a new map to guide me through life’s journey, offering the gifts of different perspectives, ways of connecting hearts and the gentle reminder that we are not alone, Systemic Coaching was the umbrella offering shelter from life’s storms, finding me at life's midpoint, a woman who had climbed half a mountain without learning to rest. In those sessions, exploring my art, I discovered the thorns I'd been carrying - the endless striving, the relentless push toward "better." Like a bird finally understanding its wings, I learned that the path forward wasn't through forcing flight, but through gentle soaring.

Now, I practice kindness like a sacred art. I listen to my body's whispers, the sighing of the breath and the movement of my limbs and I honor its wisdom. When the world grows too loud, too demanding, I ask myself, "What gentle truth does this moment need?" Sometimes, it's as simple as playing with my old dog, whose love knows no judgment. Other times, it's about finding a new path through old forests.

The lessons of my Trinidad aunties echo still, but now they've grown richer, deeper. Like them, I believe kindness builds bridges between hearts. But I've added my own verse to their song: that the kindness we give ourselves is as vital as the bread we share with others. This small seed, planted with care, grows into a mighty tree whose shade can shelter not just one soul, but many.

As Barbara Taylor and Adam Phillips remind us in their book "On Kindness": "Kindness consistently preoccupies us, we all recognize kindness when we receive it, and feel its absence when it's missing, yet most of us struggle to make it our guiding principle."

So I ask you, precious reader: How will you let kindness guide your steps today? How will you let its light illuminate your path?

Two Women | Gelli Print | Ruth Derbyshire-Moore | 2025