Recently, we received a comment from the people behind a wonderful project: Kindness - The Movie. We wanted to pass on their project to you. Get involved!

THE PROJECT:

Kindness is a groundbreaking documentary project in which people are invited to share true stories of kindness that they have received or observed.   Even as you read this, volunteers are beginning to collect stories in the form of interviews.  The most compelling stories will be featured on this website and will be considered for inclusion in the upcoming documentary film Kindness.

HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED

Our Video Contest is now open! Top prize – $1000! We are inviting you, the public, to record or document true stories, or create short pieces related to kindness.  These pieces might be you telling us a story on video, getting a friend or family member to tell a story, a short video showing us some kindness that you observe in the world, or a short film or video on the theme of kindness, a piece of animation, a photo, a written story or poem, an original song or piece of music, or any other form you wish to use to share your experience of kindness.  The only restriction is that all material must be original (you created it), not commercial or licensed material (unless you own the license).   Check out all the details under How to Enter Contest.

WHY KINDNESS?

The goal of this project is to celebrate kindness in our world.  We want to create an opportunity for people to look for evidence of kindness, from the simplest acts to the most profound.  Kindness really is the best of human nature, and we can find it everywhere, in every culture, in every form.  Often we just don’t notice it.  So what would happen if people started paying attention to kindness?  Celebrating kindness in all its forms?  What would that mean in our world?  A world of kindness?  It’s a radical idea, we know, and that’s what we have in mind.  We want to create a kindness revolution, and you’re invited to be a part of it.  Are you in?

Home is where the heart is…or is it? Home can mean many different things to people.

Here’s a sampling:

Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do… but how much love we put in that action.
Mother Teresa

The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.
Maya Angelou

A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.
Benjamin Franklin

At home I am a nice guy: but I don’t want the world to know. Humble people, I’ve found, don’t get very far.
Muhammad Ali

Say there’s a white kid who lives in a nice home, goes to an all-white school, and is pretty much having everything handed to him on a platter - for him to pick up a rap tape is incredible to me, because what that’s saying is that he’s living a fantasy life of rebellion.
Eminem

Ten men waiting for me at the door? Send one of them home, I’m tired.
Mae West

An artist has no home in Europe except in Paris.
Friedrich Nietzsche

I believe that being successful means having a balance of success stories across the many areas of your life. You can’t truly be considered successful in your business life if your home life is in shambles.
Zig Ziglar

If my world were to cave in tomorrow, I would look back on all the pleasures, excitements and worthwhilenesses I have been lucky enough to have had. Not the sadness, not my miscarriages or my father leaving home, but the joy of everything else. It will have been enough.
Audrey Hepburn

Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.
Robert Frost

Analogies, it is true, decide nothing, but they can make one feel more at home.
Sigmund Freud

If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.

Dale Carnegie

I had a lot of dates but I decided to stay home and dye my eyebrows.

Andy Warhol

A girl phoned me the other day and said… ‘Come on over, there’s nobody home.’ I went over. Nobody was home.
Rodney Dangerfield

Today the beauty is all around you. It always was. Your eyes have just been too busy doing…other things. But today. Today is different. Seemingly inconsequential items will hold the keys to the universe.

A spoon. A car key.

A leaky faucet.

A smooth countertop.

Your friend’s eyelashes.

A dog’s paw.

Trash in the wind.

Dust.

Car tires.

See beyond the banal into the beauty. Today. It may change the trajectory of your life. Simply seeing things differently could change your life.

We can all close off in myriad of ways. Sometimes we don’t even know when we are. Open-mindedness allows ideas, feelings, acceptance and understanding into our being.

Here are a few wise words on being open:

An artist’s duty is rather to stay open-minded and in a state where he can receive information and inspiration. You always have to be ready for that little artistic Epiphany.
Nick Cave

By all means let’s be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.
Richard Dawkins

By going to the movies, and because of other things, too, going to college, making a wide variety of friends, moving around traveling, I became a lot more open-minded than the heritage I was born into might have suggested.
Roger Ebert

I want someone who is open-minded, dedicated to whatever she is doing and isn’t afraid to say I love you. As for looks, she shouldn’t have three heads. I want a regular human being.
Kevin Eubanks

If my parents had discouraged me, I would have turned out very differently. They raised me in an open-minded, liberal environment.
Tom Ford

If the individual is to be happy in the contemporary order, he must be open-minded with respect to new values and new arrangements.
Thomas Cochrane

It is increasingly important to be open-minded.
Tucker Carlson

My mom has a good way of engaging me in a conversation about the choices I make, listening, being objective and open-minded, and respecting those choices so long as they don’t put me in danger.
Casey Affleck

People are very open-minded about new things - as long as they’re exactly like the old ones.
Charles Kettering

We Finns represent a very transparent and open-minded way of reaching political decisions.
Harri Holkeri

Without an open-minded mind, you can never be a great success.
Martha Stewart

A first-class violin becomes an instrument of change and charity in this hopeful story.

A Stradivarius violin known as the “Lady Blunt” sold for a record price of nearly $16 million, an amount equivalent to four times the previous record selling price for one of the rare violins. And better still, all of the proceeds will be donated to aid Japan’s relief efforts from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The Nippon Music Foundation on Monday auctioned off the antique violin – one of some 600 string instruments made by the legendary Antonio Stradivari (1644 – 1737) that are still known to exist – to help raise funds for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that ripped through Japan’s Tohoku region on March 11. It is the first time the Tokyo-based nonprofit organization sold an instrument in its care.

“While this violin was very important to our collection, the needs of our fellow Japanese people after the March 11 tragedy have proven that we all need to help, in any way we can. The donation will be put to immediate use on the ground in Japan,” said Kazuko Shiomi, president of the foundation, in a released statement on Monday. The proceeds of the sale will be donated to the earthquake and tsunami relief fund established by its parent organization, the Nippon Foundation.

Source: Wall Street Journal

What an amazing story of a community realizing a need and then stepping up to the plate to meet it. Read more about how you can help (at bottom of piece.)

Inside Whitney Elementary School in East Las Vegas, nearly 85 percent of the children are homeless. That’s 518 kids out of 610.

Learn more about the Whitney Elementary School

Principal Sherrie Gahn says, “I thought that I saw the ultimate poverty when I got here eight years ago and every year it has gotten worse and the recession made it ten times worse.”

Gahn knew she had a problem that a traditional public school could not fix. “When I saw the children eating ketchup for lunch, and wanting to take it home,” she says, “it just crushed me.”

So Gahn came up with a plan involving the kids, their parents and the community.

“I told the parents that I would give them whatever they need,” Gahn says. “All I need them to do is give me their children and let me teach them. In turn I will give you food and clothes and we will take them to the eye doctor. I will pay your rent, pay your utilities, but keep your child here.”

The children get free clothes, free bread to bring home and even free haircuts. Almost all of it given by 500 donors and local businesses who drop off donations daily. Gahn creates a wish list, and her army of volunteers makes it happen.

The contributions are large and small. One woman in Philadelphia sends $20 per month. A gambler gives $2,000 monthly - a portion of his earnings. This is Vegas.

Las Vegas has long been the city of bright lights and broken dreams. But especially now - with 12.1 percent unemployment, and the highest foreclosure rate in the country. One in every nine households receives a foreclosure notice.

Like most of her classmates, Charlee lives in one of the many rundown crime-ridden motels in the shadow of the Vegas strip.

Her family lost its home to foreclosure three years ago. Her father Chad is a construction worker. He hasn’t had a fulltime job in two years.

“There is not a lot of people moving dirt right now in the Vegas valley,” Chad says. “That’s what I do. That’s what I love to do.

As for Charlee, she dreams of being an actress. Principal Gahn has a bold dream of her own.

“I tell every 5th grade class if you make it through junior high you make it through high school and you can’t afford to go to college come see me and I will make sure that you go to college,” Gahn says. “We have a small trust fund that we started.”

Gahn says the children are worth the big promise. She defines success as “The look in their face that I made their life better. That’s my success rate when they hug me and thank me for the food, the clothes. Then I know it’s a good day.”

Today is especially emotional for Gahn - it’s the last day of class. Many of these kids and their families will be on their own until September. So next fall, she hopes to open an after-school program. So Charlee and her classmates can have a safe haven when the school day’s done.

Homeless children of the recession one year later

60 Minutes: Homeless kids: the hard times generation

60 Minutes: Hard times generation: How you can help

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/09/eveningnews/main20070437.shtml#ixzz1Pp650Mff

1. Take a slow bike ride.

2. Get a good deal at a yard sale.

3. Make healthful but tasty cookies.

4. Watch a classic black and white flick you’ve never seen.

5. Leave a hand-written note on a friend’s windshield or door.

6. Fake laughter for one minute. Notice the difference.

7. Kiss a friend on the lips. Or at least the cheeks!

8. Turn the TV off.

9. Don’t check your email for one day.

10. Listen to the different bird calls and imagine what they’re saying.

I'm hungry. Where's my food. You can't have it. It's sunny. I'm warm. I'm happy. Where's my girlfriend? I miss her.

Let me just state for the record: I don’t always like sunshine. That’s right. Even though I’m a writer for Only Positive News, sunshine isn’t always my cup of tea. I’d much prefer a gray fall day.

But today in my world, sunshine prevails. I will go out and garden in it and celebrate it’s goodness. Here are a few more sagely words on that big ball of fire.

A cloudy day or a little sunshine have as great an influence on many constitutions as the most recent blessings or misfortunes.
Joseph Addison

A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.
Steve Martin

A good laugh is sunshine in the house.
William Makepeace Thackeray

A light wind swept over the corn, and all nature laughed in the sunshine.
Anne Bronte

Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone, It’s not warm when she’s away, Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone, And she’s always gone too long, Anytime she goes away.
Bill Withers

Anyone’s life truly lived consists of work, sunshine, exercise, soap, plenty of fresh air, and a happy contented spirit.
Lillie Langtry

Arizona is gorgeous. The sunshine in Arizona is gorgeous red.
Cecilia Bartoli

But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine.
Thomas Jefferson

Change, like sunshine, can be a friend or a foe, a blessing or a curse, a dawn or a dusk.
William Arthur Ward

Fancy your having no sunshine in London yesterday! Here it was glorious, like full summer, and I sat up with the window wide open, listening to the discourse of two amorous thrushes.
Marie Corelli

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.
Louisa May Alcott

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.
Luther Burbank

Just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.
Hans Christian Anderson

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/sunshine_2.html#ixzz1PMRweSBl

Why wait to feel good when there are answers within arms-length? These great feel-good-now tips can be found at Divine Caroline, a great spiritual advisory site.

1. Listen to music. It lowers your body’s level of cortisol (the stress hormone), reduces anxiety, and can even improve your memory. Whether you love Mozart, Alicia Keys, or Lady Gaga, it’s all good. Are you pregnant? One recent study found that lullabies and nature sounds were the best choices for helping moms-to-be relax.

2. Warm up. The comfort of feeling warm and cozy is a terrific stress-reducer. The doctors at the international Mandometer Clinics, which specialize in treating eating disorders, use warm rooms and blankets to help anorexic women curb their anxiety after meals. Take advantage of spring’s lingering chill by taking a hot shower and wrapping yourself in a fluffy robe afterward. Savor a cup of green tea or get a hot stone massage. If it’s a nice day, put on your sunscreen, grab a book and find a sunny spot.

3. Have a peanut butter sandwich. When you’re fixing your kids’ lunches, aren’t you tempted to make your old favorite for yourself? Go ahead. The protein in peanut butter naturally boosts your level of serotonin, the hormone that regulates moods, sleep, and behavior. Stick with an all-natural variety (you don’t need the saturated oil and preservatives in other brands), have it on whole-grain bread and skip the sugar-loaded jelly. You’re indulging your inner child, and who’s more joyful than a five-year-old?

4. Get a friend fix. A well-known study from the University of Illinois found that the happiest people are the ones with strong bonds to friends and family. (As if you need a bunch of psychologists to tell you that girlfriend-time is fun!) A lot of us don’t make it a priority to connect with our friends regularly. Get into the habit of reaching out to a friend at least once a week, or more often if you can. Send a text, call or get together for a drink after work. And you can never have too many girls’ nights out.

5. Bring nature into your life. Getting in touch with the earth is a time-honored stress reliever, and spring, when nature comes back to life, is a fabulous time to start. Have breakfast on the porch or in the backyard and watch the birds gathering material for their nests. Pick a tree in your neighborhood and look at it daily to see buds turn into leaves.

6. Write it down. For her book, Gore asked women to keep a journal of the best moments in their day. This mindfulness will get you into the habit of noticing the good times as they happen. “Focusing on the moments of flow and happiness in our daily lives instead of focusing on what went wrong just has a refreshing effect,” Gore says. “We notice the natural joy more easily, and we remind ourselves, and sometimes even begin to relearn, what we want to be spending our time doing. “ Buy a notebook and keep it on your nightstand so you can write just before bed. Your entries don’t have to be long; a few lines are plenty.

7. Get out of your rut. Many women Gore spoke to found that they were happiest doing something that took them out of their day-to-day routine: working on an art project, going on a hike, playing with the kids during a time when they didn’t have to rush off to school or sports. Shake up your schedule: Go for a walk at lunch hour instead of eating at your desk. If you spend your nights in front of the TV, turn it off and reach for your journal, a book, or a paintbrush.

In short: Don’t wait for joy to come to you—go out and grab it with both hands!

By Shana Aborn for BettyConfidential

Via http://www.divinecaroline.com/22189/98056-seven-foolproof-feel-good-strategies/2#ixzz1PAPaKH6C

Via http://www.divinecaroline.com/22189/98056-seven-foolproof-feel-good-strategies#ixzz1PAPIe6NP

According to a recent report, if you want to thrive in a cleaner environment in the US, here are the “go to” cities. The American College of Sports Medicine rounded up the results based on both personal health and community and environmental data.

1. Minneapolis, MN

2. Washington, DC

3. Boston, MA

4. Portland, OR

5. Denver, CO

6. San Francisco, CA

7. Hartford, CT

8. Seattle, WA

9. Virginia Beach, VA

10. Sacramento, CA

11. San Jose, CA

12. Richmond, VA

13. San Diego, CA

14. Cincinnati, OH

15. Salt Lake City, UT

16. Austin-Round Rock, TX

17. Pittsburgh, PA

18. Atlanta, GA

19. Providence, RI

20. Baltimore, MD

21. Milwaukee, WI

22. Kansas City, MO

23. Buffalo, NY

24. Raleigh, NC

25. Cleveland, OH