“Random Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty” is a well-known phrase-turned-movement, now embarking on its 30th year of inspiring kind words and actions around the world. It’s simply doing something positive for someone else, without them asking and without doing it for something in return.
Conceived by two friends over coffee in response to rising conflicts including the impending Persian Gulf War, Rodney King beating, and Los Angeles riots, it was quite literally a rewording of an increasingly common phrase on the news, “random violence and senseless acts of cruelty.”
First communicated in a 1991 Glamour magazine article that led to iconic bumper stickers, “Random Kindness” went viral, so to speak, and is now embedded in the national and global lexicon as a cultural movement.
On Jan. 10, members of the local volunteer organization, Mothers and Daughters Club Assisting Philanthropies (MADCAPS), heard an inspiring talk about the power of kindness from one of the co-authors of the movement who also helped pen a full-length prose poem to communicate it.
The book, “Random Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty” was written by M. Paloma Pavel, MDiv, Ph.D., and Anne Herbert (1950-2015), and was illustrated by Mayumi Oda. A foreword in the 30th-anniversary edition is by Pavel’s mentor, Nobel Prize laureate Desmond Tutu.
Archbishop Tutu shared his wisdom, strength, and hope in the context of the South African philosophy of Ubuntu, “… belief that our humanity is inextricably bound up in one another, and any tear in the fabric of connection must be repaired for us all to be made whole. This interconnectedness is the very root of who we are. Thus, compassion and service to others enhances the humanity of all, including oneself.”
The 30th-anniversary edition received the Gold Medal Book Award and was named Peacemaker Book of the Year in 2014.
Even before her presentation, Pavel said: “I’ve been looking forward to spending time with the MADCAPS moms, especially at the start of the New Year when many of us make positive resolutions to focus on ourselves and others. Every random act of kindness makes the world a kinder, better place and that seems completely aligned with the purpose of MADCAPS to involve mothers and daughters in caring for their communities.”
With thanks to The Thursday Club for its hospitality, most of the 219 current MADCAPS moms from Point Loma, Ocean Beach, Mission Hills, and Hillcrest, attended the meeting. Pavel shared some stories about the history of the movement and her unexpected life journey as a result of it. As part of her talk, she said, “We are here with the capacity to interconnect, to create something larger than one of us could do alone.”
She then read an excerpt from the book:
“Our leaders got confused.
So we’re all leaders now.
They told us there was nothing we could do.
They were wrong.
When we tell ourselves there is nothing we can do, we are wrong.
We never know how much
and we never know how far it goes,
but always, we have power.
We have power.
We’re all making the soup
we’re all eating.
We’re all weaving the cloth
we’re all wearing.”
Pavel also talked about what she referred to as the neuroscience of kindness, in which studies show the emotional, physical, and neurological benefits of kindness for those who put it into practice. To help personalize the talk, she encouraged moms to share about a random act of kindness that made a difference in their lives, whether as the giver, receiver or even as a witness.
Member Nanci Clifford, on the Discovery planning team, told the mom seated next to her about a recent experience she had at the crowded Boston airport where tempers were running high due to hundreds of flight delays and cancellations. She said, “I witnessed how the kindness and gracious compassion of one person quickly diffused a heated situation and inspired more positive behavior all around.”
She reflected on it during the interactive exercise, saying, “The hope is that once we experience these random and sometimes senseless acts, we are transformed and inspired to be transformative.” She added, “Kindness is a superpower!”
According to the organization’s co-president, Kathy Johnson, “This presentation was part of a Discovery Program, which aims to enrich the MADCAPS experience of members with unique and meaningful meeting activities related to our mission.” Following the presentation, she stated: “I’m excited that MADCAPS mothers were able to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Dr. Pavel’s book with her and I can’t wait to see the positive ripple effect of her inspirational message on our volunteerism. Just in 2023, we volunteered 8,350 hours of direct service to our communities and 45 of our junior members earned the President’s Volunteer Service Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions.”
Pavel wrote a message to the group in an email after the meeting, which read: “I was honored to support co-presidents Kathy Johnson and Annie Schultz, as well as Karen Austin the Discovery Program lead, to plant new seeds for leadership in 2024. It was inspiring to help grow the spirit of collaboration and see MADCAPS women leaders actively nurture each other to take on new organizational jobs and service commitments. I can’t wait to hear about plans to work across generations with your amazing daughters in service to your San Diego communities. I look forward to returning!”
Random Acts of Kindness Week is celebrated annually from Feb. 14-20, starting with Valentine’s Day. Random Acts of Kindness Day will be on Feb. 17, set aside as a national day to inspire and spur acts of random kindness from coast to coast.
Pavel is an educator and international consultant for healthy, just, and resilient communities. Her academic background includes graduate study at Harvard University and the London School of Economics. A former director of the Sustainable Metropolitan Communities Initiative at the Ford Foundation, she has been president of Oakland-based Earth House Center since 1990 and is co-founder of the Breakthrough Communities Project. In 2022, she served as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations Climate Summit in Egypt.
A 30th anniversary edition of “Random Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty” is anticipated to be released in April (New Village Press, 2024).
For more information go to randomkindness.net y earthhousecenter.org.
