The cookie...

Today on Facebook I shared the story of a woman who helped another younger woman  with epilepsy. What does this have to do with a cookie you might ask? Well hang in there and I’ll tell you. 

Let me sum up the story of those two women (for those who didn’t see the post). Read here is you want to see the story in full! 

Erynn was travelling home on the train when she was approached by a young woman. The young woman was holding out a piece of paper that said “seizure plan”. The younger woman knew she was about to have a seizure and was needing a little support and asked Erynn to stay with her until Erynn was going to get off for her stop. The young girl had moved her purse and folded her scarf to catch her own head when the seizure started. Erynn (chose to miss her train stop because she wanted to make sure the girl was okay) read the seizure plan and followed it. It became her anchor. Erynn times the seizure as directed. After 3 minutes the young woman comes around and they chat briefly before having a second seizure. The seizure plan becomes an anchor again as it explains the young woman has these seizure one to four times a day and means that sometimes they can last up to an hour. “Just think about that for a second. Think about being randomly completely vulnerable multiple times a day, and this is just... every day.” 

When the young woman comes around again she is so tired she just wants to go home. So that’s what Erynn helps her to do. She doesn’t call the ambulance or leave her in the hands or someone else, because that isn’t what she needed. In fact it could have made it worse as loud noises and flashing lights are triggers for her seizures, and both are common with ambulances. Plus, it would undoubtedly cost money and get her further away from her home. This is a daily occurrence for the young woman. She seizes a few more times under Erynns watchful gaze. Each time the young woman carefully tucks her scarf under her head. 

Erynn could have so easily made it someone else problem. But that’s not what the young woman needed. She needed to be supported. All the young woman asked of Erynn was to be accommodated until Erynn needed to get off the train. But Erynn went beyond that. 

The young woman needed a lot more kindness than she asked for.  Erynns post calls us to be a kinder community to everyone and not just be ‘accommodating’ because that is how as a community we thrive. 

“Accommodation is the bare minimum. If I sat with her until my stop and then left, that’s what accommodation looks like.

It’s not good enough. Not for me, not for her, not for community and not for our world.

Build something better, folks. Build a better world.”

We are a community. We are not separate from other living beings ( I’m no hermit even if somedays I feel like one). 

This post has me think about how we accommodate others and how we can take that next step to kindness. 

It’s not easy. But everyone needs kindness. 

It doesn’t matter if they are rich, poor or somewhere in between. It doesn’t matter if they are socialy inept or socially proficient or if they avoid society all together, like a hermit. It doesn’t matter if they are black, white, pink, yellow, grey, rainbow coloured or are covered in tattoos. It doesn’t matter what ability level they have or challenges they face. It doesn’t matter if they have differing religious or political beliefs to us. It doesn’t matter what circumstances... EVERYONE needs gentle kindness. Everyone has the need to be seen and heard. Everyone has the need to be loved.* and it reminded me of a cartoon I saw recently... about a cookie. 

Kindness helps build community and connects us to each other. It is both profoundly powerful and fairly simple. If it is safe to do so, always be kind. When it’s hard to do it, be kind. When it is easy to do it, be kind. But challenge yourself, as I will challenge myself to go beyond accommodating others and work towards gentle kindness. 

Be brave and be kind! 

Love Daena x


*Everyone wants love and kindness. I also know not everyone you meet will be kind to you. Love bravely and act kindly but use both your intuition and your head to make cleverly kind choices. You can be safe and still challenge your own social predispositions towards other peoples, cultures, religions, sexes, creeds, abilities and genders so you can make wise and kind choices! Good luck! 😘❤️

Give away... 100 Days of Kindness

Kindness week has just passed us by and so did the international day of Random Acts of Kindness (it was yesterday).

 I wanted to mark the occasion some how and seeing as I somehow let the day slip by completely unnoticed I thought I would do my Random Act of Kindness today instead. I thought a give away would be wonderful. 

I decided that my Random Act of Kindness would be to give a book to a random follower of this blog and the Facebook page. 

The book I chose is actually a kindness workbook. It’s called “100 Days of Kindness” and I bought it from Paperchase (a stationary company here in the UK for those who don’t know it). 

It’s beautiful. There are two ways to use it too. One you can work through the work book in chronological order 1-100. 

Or you can do a kindness a day that you choose randomly from the book and when you fill in the pages you include the date you did it. Kind of like a random act of kindness lucky dip! 

I will happily send this book to someone at the end of next week. I’ll contact you here or Facebook for your postal address if you are the one who will receive this Random Act of Kindness*. I’ll draw a name out of a hat on Sunday.  

The only request I ask is you like the Facebook Page and/or leave a comment below for your chance to be the lucky recipient

Not sure what to say? How about letting me know what kindness you have done for someone else? I always love to hear that! 

I hope you had a great kind week! 

Much love to you all, 

Daena 

*I will not use your address for any other purpose than sending the package to you. I don’t sell or pass on any personal information. I just want you to know I will treat your information kindly. 👍☺️👍

The first post of 2019 - A Call to Kindness

I bet you have been wondering what has taken me so long? Or if I’ve forgotten what kindness is? No! Absolutely Not! 

The truth is that would be impossible. 

This past year I’ve been working full time and I decided to be thoughtful about what I wanted to share on my blog.

There are a few things that I’ve stuck to in recent years that may continue this year like Sustainable September (but also may not depending on what this year actually brings). 

I am acknowledging my inconsistency with blogging too. I’m not perfect but I’m constantly improving.  Kindness is still so important to me that I keep coming back to it again and again. 

2018 brought with it some HUGE changes for me.  I moved between 3 countries, from Australia to Wales to England. I got 2 jobs (one which I had to leave in order to pursue the other). I moved to 2 new houses in two different counties. I also got myself a new boyfriend (well he’s not so new now... but the first I’ve had in a long time). It brought with it a change in my life circumstances all of which has made my life both easier and harder to bring kindness to peoples lives. 

It’s easier now as I am exposed to a diverse range of people on a daily basis, not many of whom know much about my kindness mission. This makes it quite fun to surprise people with thoughtfulness. 

It can be harder because Archaeology as a career is more often than not back-breaking manual labour. Even though I love it, it wears me out a lot and I come home exhausted regularly. 

However that hasn’t stopped me being kind... 

2019 had already brought with it kindness and encouragement from others for me. 

I’ve continued to joyfully worked to bring a smile to the faces of people I work with, live with and know. 

I wanted to start this year by reminding you that kindness is easy!  AND you can start a year of kindness at any time (even 5 days after New Year like today). If you want to do it don’t let anything stop you, least of all the date. 

So this is a call to kindness if you want to join me. It doesn’t have to be hard. 

For example: 

If you break it down to a weekly kindness schedule : 

Monday’s: smile at a stranger/compliment someone. A compliment could be about their outfit, their adorable pet, their lovely smile, or their ability to keep coming to work everyday when you know they have stuff going on at home or when they are dealing with chronic pain/illness (I have a few friends whose lives are crazy and yet they still show up for me when I need them). 

Tuesday’s: make or buy a hot/cold beverage for someone. it can be offering to get someone a glass of water or remembering and buying them that Double Dirty Chai latte with Coconut Milk they drink on a regular basis. The price or effort is up to you. 

Wednesday’s: take a treat into work to share... it’s hump day on Wednesday and everyone will appreciate a mid-week pick me up (I have been doing this at work - and mostly involved me baking yummy treated on a Tuesday night but this week I took some fruit mince pies in to work (I can’t eat them but they had a packet of 6 fruit mince pies on reduction for £0.05 per back so I grabbed two to make the day more enjoyable for everyone. I got to be kind they got to eat yummy things). If you don’t work regular days etc, make or do something special for your family or friends on a Wednesday if you want to stick to this plan. 

Thursday’s: write a thank you to someone for something good they have done for you. This can be as public as a Facebook post acknowledging their gifts and why you love them so. Or as private as writing them an anonymous hand written note to thank them for generally being a good person. 

Friday’s: do a job or chore for someone else. This can be offering to empty the bin at work or emptying the dishwasher when it’s your housemates/partners turn. It could be raking the leaves for your neighbour, helping them move snow in winter, watering gardens/plants in summer or just checking on an elderly family member/friend/neighbour. 

Saturday’s: Connect with someone you’ve been meaning to contact but keep forgetting to/putting it off. Simply sending a message to a friend or family member that says “I’ve been thinking of you recently, how are things? Hope you are well!” Or writing a letter or email to catch a friend or family member up on all they have been missing in your life. It could be calling someone for a coffee date or organising to go to the movies together. Or it could be sending a care package to a friend in another country (this has made a huge and amazing kindness for me when family and friends have sent stuff my way! 😊). 

Sunday’s: do something to be kind to yourself! This can be having a bath, Reading a book you’ve been wanting to read or even making your favourite tea/coffee/ chocolate/hot Carob drink and taking 5 minutes to sit and enjoy it in silence (yes parents - I know that’s a lot to ask but I hope for your sake you kids sleep sometime!). 

Other things you can do to spice up your kindnesses: 

When it’s someone birthday just send them a message to let them know you know they were born on this day and how special that is to you. If it’s YOUR birthday send a message to your mother (after all she did all the work of growing you inside her for up to 9 months) or a person who has been a mum/parent figure to you to thank them for helping you and keeping you alive this long! Or for teaching you the resilience you needed to stay alive on your own! 

Anytime it’s a special holiday (E.g.  Christmas just gone, Valentine’s, Easter, Hanukkah, Diwali, any festive card giving holiday etc) when you are sending a card, write one thing you are grateful for about that person. It can be hard sometimes but if you think about it, there is a reason you are going to the effort of sending/giving them a card why not make it extra special. 

Do you love books? Do you have a couple extra dollars to make someone’s day? Put some cash (I recommend notes as coins can cause damage to a book) with a post-it note in your favourite book/s at a book shop to contribute to the next person, who opens the book, to purchase it! 

Appreciate the work of those around you like Posties (postmen and women), ambulance workers, Firey’s (fire department workers), nurses, doctors, managers, street cleaners, cleaners in general, garbage men/women, service men and women, retail staff, regular delivery drivers etc. you could always thank them for their work by writing to their work places/ managers to compliment their work or contact these people directly by giving them a thank you note/card. Gratitude is by far one of the nicest and simplest kindnesses around and you can do it verbally or in written form. 

One idea for office workers: 

I like leaving one of our staff little compliments and encouragements at random places in her Post-It Note pad. She knows who does it, but if you were less obvious than I am... You could make it anonymous! Note: I do try to be sneaky but she’s very clever! 

Extra info: 

There are so many ideas if the weekly kindness plan doesn’t work for you! You can check out FB, Instagram, Pinterest, Google and so many places for kindness ideas. 

I am not the first and I won’t be the last to choose to do a kind deed a day. I REALLY WANT people to take this on... it really has changed MY life for the better. And I hope it works for you too! :) 

Here is to another year of kindness. 

Much love to you all, 

Daena x

Sustainable September 2018 - And so it begins again Q&A

It's that time of year again, where you can count on me to be here every day... sharing what I lovingly call Environmental Kindnesses during Sustainable September. 

I thought I would answer a few questions to set the coming month in motion...

Why do I do Sustainable September on a Kindness blog?

One of the things that people often forget is that kindness doesn’t have to be only for other humans. It is a gift that we can give to creatures great and small, ourselves and the environment. 

This earth sustains life. Our lives. It seems like a small thing to take one month out of every year to help give back and help preserve the environment for future generations. That is a kindness to our children too. Kindness can simply be making the world a better place for those who are yet to be born, or those who are yet to grow up. 

We can kindly make the world a better place for others and for ourselves. But most of all we can choose to live more sustainably so other people, plants, organisms and animals have a better chance at living their best lives.

How long have you been doing Sustainable September?

So for the last 4 years I have been working to create a Sustainable life for myself, and to inspire others to make simple changes for the benefit of all. It is important to be kind to ourselves, each other, other living things and particularly the environment which sustains us.

What will Sustainable September Focus on this year?

One of the things that stops a lot of people with regular old kindnesses (not that there is realy a thing as 'regular' or 'old' about kindness) but that they think it requires a lot of cash to do it. That is simply not true. However, this year I thought I would share money saving ways to help the environment AND put some money back in your pockets to save up to do that kindness that you have been wanting to do for ages. Or to, you know, help you pay the bills.

What is new this year?

So in May I moved from Australia to Wales, and I am currently preparing for a new move to England. 

I have just gotten my first job in Archaeology in the UK. And I am super excited!!!

I have been pretty lucky that I could get work in my field of study after such a long time of study.

So while we will be doing Sustainable September together, we can explore our own cities, or in my case a new city, and find eco-friendly options.

This month I will be attempting to share some of the things I am doing or have started here.

One of the things I would like to take this sustainable September to look at is how living environmentally friendly can actually save you money. It doesn’t have to be an expensive lifestyle change. In fact it can actually save you a lot of money and I want to show you how.

What have you learned in the UK?

I used my last 3 months in Wales to learn about and support the first Zero Waste stores in Cardiff. I am so excited that there will be a not for profit Zero Waste store opening in the coming months there. You can follow @ripple_living on Instagram, and i even supported their Kickstarter campaign. 

On a side note: I will be returning to Cardiff regularly (as that is where my boyfriend lives). So if you see some of the things I share it will be a mix of England and Wales. 

Where else can I find out about Kindness? 

There are literally hundreds of amazing websites, profiles, pages and people who promote Kindness in this world. I encourage you to seek them out, share them and encourage them. It will make a huge difference to them, as it does to me.  

If you want to find out about the 365 Days of Kindness Facebook page click the link here. 

You can also follow me personally on Instagram (which is pretty new for me) @daenaguest. I must admit there is a lot of posts about good books, yummy food, kindness and sustainable practices on there already. I am also on Pinterest (but not as much these days). So feel free to check either social media account out, and if it aligns with your values, please follow me, if not... Thanks for thinking about it. 

I want to thank you all for reading this far and I wish you all the best in whatever you do. I hope you keep checknig out Sustainable September though. It's pretty awesome, if I do say so myself... and I do! hehehhe.

If you have any more questions please don't hesitate to ask. 

Much love to you all,

Daena Guest

Kindness Podcast

Last year there was a Kindness Podcast released that my sister Vandra and I have been thoroughly enjoying. Seeing as how we are both relatively new to podcasts we can get pretty passionate and excited about all the stuff we are learning.

I am so grateful to my sister who decided to share her most recent favouite Kindness podcast on the 365days of Kindness Facebook Page, because we were sent a reply from the Kindness Podcast! It feels like we have just gotten a message from Kindness Royalty! So funny how excited we both got! It made my day for sure.

Because we shared their podcast they  have offered to send us a copy of the book, Live Kinder By Barbara Hirsh, which is such a blessing.

I am so grateful to other people who support a kinder world. I love to support others as best I can when i find out they are giving this Kinder way of life a go. I've met a few brave souls doing 365 (or 366) days of kind deeds and I am so proud of their effors.

I am even reading a kindness book at the moment from someone else who did 366Days of Kindness a lady by the name of Burnadette Russell. Her book 'The Little Book of Kindness: Every day actions to change your life and the world around you' feels like a book I could have written.

Then she also deals so beautifully with things I would never have thought about.

I guess even after 6 years of kindnesses I still have so much to learn! That is why I support those I can to live a kinder life! I am always learning, growing, changing. I am blessed to have more and more inspiration, because when I was starting out there werent many people promoting kindness as a way of life... but now... I am continually blown away by the kind deeds done for others. YouTube, Facebook, Podcasts, Pinterests are all filled with Kindnesses and ideas if you just know where to look!

If you want to find us on Facebook just touch the link above. I am also on Pinterest with a massive board of kindness inspiration and kindness ideas.

Also, This year my big sister also organised some gorgeous Random Acts of Kindness Cards for me to give out, as a Christmas present!

So if anyone wants some I am happy to send them to you! As always I would love to hear your kindnesses or your own kindness inspiration!

Let me know,
Much love
Daena

Sustainable September 2017 - Day Twenty Three

SEPTEMBER 23 (SATURDAY)

CLEANING - DISHWASHER

Hello again,
I am feeling much better today. So I hope you enjoy this blog post as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I spent some time today cleaning up and sorting out my clothes. In the last few months I have changed shape a lot. I have lost two to three dress sizes. This means I have a lot of clothes that are not comfortable or even the right size. I spent some time giving a lot of my clothes a go, seeing what fits and what doesn't. It was kind of sad to realise that some of my favourite clothes are actually too big for me now. Which is also a blessing. This will actually lead on to the next weeks theme of FASHION AND BEAUTY. I'm giving you a day or two advanced notice. It is a huge theme so I hope I do it justice. Anyway... back to todays idea and this weeks theme of cleaning.

To end off this weeks theme of cleaning, i wanted to talk about dishwashing.

Sustainable September Day Twenty Three - Sustainably cleaning dishes.

Often there is a lot of plastic when it comes to washing up. Either the washing up liquids you buy come in lots of plastic containers or the dishwasher tablets come wrapped in plastic too, and often wrapped twice in plastic.

There are some different ways to reduce waste and make the way we do our washing up more sustainable

1) buy in bulk. This reduces the amount of plastics that go into landfill. For example, Where you would buy 3 x 330ml bottles plastic bottles of washing up liquid, you could buy a single 1Lt bottle of liquid instead. It is not a huge difference to make but it can actually make a pretty big difference. And this can be done with dishwashing tablets too.

2) Buy an eco friendly brand. If you currently use a heavy chemical based dishwashing liquid, you could simply change to one that uses less chemicals and uses sustainable practicises in its packaging and bottling. If you are not sure what some of these brands are you can check a local (to you) Facebook group that does Zero Waste, or Environmental sustainability. I am part of a few Perth based Facebook groups and i am so amazed by the collective knowledge that this group of people has.

3) Refill a container. I know this because i have done it before. I had one of those previously mentioned small plastic bottles of dishwashing liquid that I took to The Wasteless Pantry. There i got it refilled (which basically made it zero waste. That was one plastic bottle of dishwashing liquid that i didnt need to purchase, and one that didnt have to end up in landfill or at the recycling yard either.

4) buy plastic free Dishwashing tablets. We are yet to find a wonderful option for this, even though we do use dishwashing tablets at home (unless we hand wash stuff - which I tend to do a lot of). We buy an eco brand in bulk (where possible) but the packaging still has plastic, so I wouldn't recommend them here. However if anyone knows where I can get dishwasher tablets without plastic wrappers I would be so grateful.

5) Make your own dishwashing liquid or dishwasher tablets. This is actually the ACTIVITY for today too.

Now I know this wont work for everyone. Apparently some recipes can be a little temperamental so some experimentation is required. But give it a go.

Zero Waste Liquid Soap/ Dishwashing Liquid - This is made with Soap Nuts!!! I mentioned them in the last two blog posts, so if you havent read them yet... check it out.

Note: You dont have to have colouring in this recipe either... it just gives it a nice way to differenciate the dishwashing liquid from other cleaners in your home.

Zero Waste Dishwasher Tablets - look pretty easy and she shows you how to make Washing soda from baking soda.

Note: you can make this into a washing up powder if you want to- just dont add water to recipe.

I would love to see what you have made and how it looks!

Here is a video about Zero Waste Cleaning. I thought I would include it here because tomorrow is the last day of the Cleaning Theme and I didn't want to miss anything. This is from Kate Arnell from EcoBoost. It is about 20 mins but it is worth it.

I hope you have enjoyed the cleaning theme and look forward to the next one! :) 

Much love and kindness to you all. 

Love Daena x

Lent gifting day 38 & 39

Sometimes we have great plans and sometimes it just doesn't happen. 

I've been working really hard to post daily but it didn't quite go to plan yesterday. Yesterday I took my niece down to the park and when I was there I got the starting of a migraine. My sister thankfully was on her way from work so she was able to swing past and pick us both up and take us home. 

By the time I got home I was nauseous and by the time I had had a chance to fill up my water bottle and make sure I had an ice pack I was vomiting. Great topic of conversation, I know. Hehehe. I then proceeded to sleep from 5pm to 11.30am when I was taken to the doctor and then back to bed until almost 6pm. I had basically spent 24 hours in bed (excluding the time I was at the doctors). 

 

Needless to say, by this evening I felt much better, although not 100%. But I got sick and tired of being in bed so I got up. I Had dinner with my family, watched some tv (fairly quietly) with the adults in my family and played a game of cards with my brother in law. All with my sun glasses on! 

Even though I was sick I didn't forget I had to do two days worth of blog posts. I'm making it short and sweet today because I need to. 

Yesterday's giving was another toy. 

 

I've had this "baby" doll for as long as I can remember. But I don't need it anymore and I know there is some little kid out there who will love her like I did when I was younger. So I think she would be in better hands than mine where she can be loved and appreciated. 

 

Today's act of kindness and gifting is also a toy. A "Big Bang Theory" kitty cat called "soft kitty". When you press its paw it sings the soft kitty song that Sheldon makes Penny sing when he's sick in the TV show "Big Bang Theory". See the clip below. 

I was actually given two of these toys a couple of years ago. My niece loved one so much that she used to use it all the time when I didn't live with her. She would crawl into the guest bed with the Soft Kitty and play it over and over and over and over again. The batteries almost died in it from being played so often. She loved it and it apparently reminded her of me. So when she was feeling bad she would climb into the bed I used and hug my toy. Kind of cute. But since I've been living in the same house she has been hugging me and not the toy so it's time to give it up. 

  I gave one away a few months back. But I thinks it's time I pass this cutie off as well. If my niece got some much out of it when she was younger, someone else will love it too. 

I want to make people's lives better. If by giving away some of my stuff I can do that then I am thrilled to. 

My Lenten gifting is not my only act of kindness in the 40 days of lent (which ends on Palm Sunday) but it is one that I feel comfortable photographing and sharing. Sometimes I do kindnesses anonymously so I can't share them here without giving myself away. Sometimes I do kindnesses that other people know about so I can share them and I do here or on Facebook. Sometimes I don't tell anyone because it's not something that I could share without sharing personal information or share something that isn't mine to tell. Kindness is also shown in my discretion.

But the lent gifting I can share because I is mine. I can show you what I'm giving away because often I don't know who it will end up with. I have no attachment to who gets it or where it goes. It is also something that I am giving up for the benefit of another person, group or community. What better Kindness can I do that giving away something every day in Lent? And tomorrow is the end for this "game". Although technically each Sunday during lent isn't counted so it really ends on the Thursday before Easter. Tomorrow is Palm Sunday and the beginning of what the Christian church calls Holy Week. The beginning of all the events that lead up to the crucifixion on Friday and the resurrection on Sunday. 

Even though lent doesn't end until Thursday most people I know give stuff up until Easter Sunday. So it's really a choice to how far you go. I will see how I go tomorrow I may even continue to give things up for charity until Easter Sunday just to push myself. I still have Heaps of stuff in my home that I Could regift. But if you are playing this gifting game too... please feel free to finish whenever you feel you want to. 

Hope this finds you well. 

Love Daena x

Kindness Advent Calendars

Hello lovely people,

I was so busy in November i had no time to post here! But NO MORE! ahahah! Perfectly in time for Christmas! :)

I know you may not be a Christmas celebrator but that doesn't mean that you cant still spread kindness like a maniac! :) *starts running around in lycra singing "I'm a maniac, maniac on the floor!"*

To be completely honest, this time of year can be stressful for everyone. And working together to make life a little easier for someone else, can actually feel like your own burden is reduced.

I love seeing the good things that happen around this time of year.

I also love that there is always the opportunity to start new traditions. And why not add kindness?


My sister Vandra posted on the 365days of Kindness Facebook page a couple of days ago (I must admit I am behind) a Kindness Advent Calendar. SO i will re-post it here.

If you want to print off a better copy you can go to the site here.

Now i know i am a day behind for the start of December but that doesn't mean you cant "catch up" or even create other ideas for things to add/replace a kindness idea on a calendar.

For me, who is working at getting myself healthier and fitter this year, this is a wonderful idea that doesn't involve eating lots of cheap and nasty chocolate for breakfast! *This may or may not have happened in recent years*

I just want to wish everyone a Happy Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanuka, Happy Feast Day,  Happy Mid-winters Festival, Happy life... and for those who really cant cope... Bah Humbug! ;)

Even though life can be telling you that this time of year is all about excess, please be kind to yourselves. Give your active imaginations of how this month should turn out and expectations of how a hoilday should go, a rest. Be kind. To yourself. To your family. To your loved ones. To strangers. To your enemies. To your neighbours. But no matter what... be Kind!

Much love to you ALL, no matter what you celebrate!
Love Daena