• In a world where you can do anything, CREATE KINDNESS.

      CREATE KINDNESS INITIATIVE

    • What is the

      CREATE KINDNESS INITIATIVE (CKI)?

       

      It’s about encouraging others to be the change they want to see.

       

      The Create Kindness Initiative embraces 4 goals...​

      IMPACT

      Culture

      by first changing...

      the way we see and treat others.

      DO-able Goals

      like committing...

      to complete one random act of kindness a week.

      RESPECT Others

      who are different from you...

      and showing them kindness, no matter their response.

      TAKE 

      Action

      by being aware...

      of how small choices can have big consequences.

    • Create Kindness

      --- you can’t change the world, if you don’t first change yourself ---

      It is not -

      • a 5-step plan, an organized event or social media campaign

      • just about raising awareness about the incivility, meanness and selfish in our culture

      • simply a call for people to be more respectful or nice to each other

      It is about -

      • each one of us
      • taking a moment to pause
      • and personally reflect on what we can do in our everyday lives 
      • to reshape our world for the better

    • How It Works

      Joining the initiative is simple!

      Creating Kindness starts by taking time out,

      committing to honestly ask yourself the questions below,

      and then go and do as your heart and spirit leads.

       

      Start by Asking Yourself: “What would it look like to fully embrace ..."

      1

      Showing care to those in my circle of influence?

      2

      Treating the stranger as a friend?

      3

      Helping heal the brokenness I encounter?

      4

      Speaking truth to power with love?

      5

      Resisting being polluted by the negativity of culture?

       

    • These are the rationale behind the CREATE KINDNESS INITIATIVE and its Core Questions ...

      CARE

      for those in your circle of influence

      Romans 13:10

      Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law

      TREAT

      the stranger as a friend

      Leviticus 19:33-34

      When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

      HELP

      where and when you can

      Titus 1:8

      But hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined

      SPEAK

      the truth with love

      Ephesians 4:15

      Instead, by speaking the truth in a spirit of love, we grow up in every way to be like Christ

      RESIST

      the negativity of culture

      James 1:27

      Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

    • Academic Kindness

      What if we switched from a scarcity to an abundance of kindness model in Academia?

       

      The Create Kindness Initiative is now Partnering with Academic Kindness on Tumblr to raise awareness about how being kind can change the culture of the Academic Life!

      The challenge of being kind in the world of Academia

      The world of academia operates on a scarcity model, a mentality that there is never enough of anything. Those of us who work at Universities and Colleges know they are often places full of competition and negativity. There never seems to be enough time, money, resources or volunteers to go around and meet departmental needs and people’s expectations. Because of this atmosphere there is often also a scarcity of kindness!

      What if we switched from a scarcity of kindness to an abundance model?

      But what would happen if we switched our mindset to an abundance of kindness model. Abundance focuses a positive outlook seeing the plenty of resources that do exist. Those abundant resources are human creativity and care. What if we adopted an outlook that was positive and creative. What if we took on an attitude that embraces a hopeful belief that if I do my part, there will be more good to go around.

       

      We can live out this mindset through academic kindness. This means seeing colleagues as a potential friend, rather than as competitors. Seeking out opportunities to give, without focusing on what we can get in return.

      Academic Kindness might look like...

      • Volunteering time to mentor a junior colleague or provide feedback on a work-in-progress.
      • Committing to offer constructive & affirming feedback in article reviews, consciously resisting becoming Reviewer #2.
      • Attend a colleague’s presentation, and write them an note afterwards about what you appreciate & learned from them.
      • Invite a staff person who seems to be struggling out to lunch, and be there just to listen and encourage them.
      • Offer to write a reference letter for a colleague applying for a job, fellowship or award.

      Random Acts of Academic Kindness can start here, with you!

       

      For more ideas check out:

      Academic Kindness on Tumblr

    • Backstory to CKI

      I am a professor at Texas A&M University and spiritual director. In my free time, I like to cook, meditate and find creative ways to spread hope. The vision for CKI came to me in spring 2019, after a time of prayerful contemplation about how my academic work could be used to make a more positive and tangible impact on my community. CKI is my attempt to put practical action behind my current research on "lived ethics and dangerous discourses in digital culture”, which is a project I am pursuing as part of my 2019-2020 Faculty Development Leave with Texas A&M University.

    • Through the process of reflecting on what it means to truly create kindness, and mapping the core principles of CKI, I made the decision to begin my create kindness journey by doing 4 things...

      1. CARE for those in my work place, through an Encouragement Box: I set up a box outside my office where people pick up an encouragement card, leave their wishes or prayer requests, get some candy, tissues or cough drops and also find out about CKI.
      2. TREAT those struggling with respect, by volunteering with Bridges to Life: Bridges to Life is a restorative justice program that helps prisoners confront their crimes and the damage that their crime has caused on society, their families, themselves and their community.
      3. HELP my community, by installing a Blessing Box outside my home​: A Blessing Box is a micro-food pantry offering free non-perishable food items and toiletries to those who pass by in local neighborhoods. These boxes typically have a sign with the slogan, “take what you need, leave what you can”, encouraging people both to take as well as donate items that can help others.
      4. SPEAK truth, through my research on caring discourse in a digital age: I am currently writing a book about how incivility and stereotypes are communicated online by Internet Memes, and developing a guide for turning “mean memes” into “caring conversations”. More information about this project can be found here. 

      --- What will you do to Create Kindness?! ---

    • CKI on Social Media

       

      Contact us via email at: createkindnessinitiative@gmail.com

       

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      Our Blessing Box was Featured on Local News KBTX, Check it out!

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    Create Kindness Initiative © 2019

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