The Mooresotwn Library will hosts a Community Kindness Conversation and Interactive Workshop. The workshop will meet on Tuesday, Sept. 15 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The Moorestown Library is located at 111 West 2nd Street.
There is a quote from Walt Whitman in the Random Acts of Kindness Universe Calendar, “I am larger, better than I thought. I did not know I held so much goodness.” What’s the added goodness inside each of us, waiting to be revealed? Let’s find out!
This year Moorestown Mayor Victoria Napolitano officially declared 2015 as Kindness Year at a ceremony at Town Hall.
This Library Workshop is designed to move the Community Kindness conversation forward.
All participants will be invited to declare themselves Ambassadors of Kindness and to contemplate outreach and acts of kindness we can perform, individually and collectively.
The workshop is also timed to help usher in International Peace Day, held annually on Sept. 21. This complementary movement, established at the United Nations, is designed to build a culture of peace for the world.
How does one do that? One way is by growing a culture of kindness. In the words of Mother Teresa, “The most overlooked peacemaker is kindness”. Kindness is a simple way to Think Globally and Act Locally.
To empower, enliven and deepen the conversation, for Moorestown and beyond, a ‘Kindness Wheel’ has been created. It’s a ‘wheel of fortune’ where everyone wins! Eighteen ways that kindness can be experienced and shared are all incorporated into the wheel, and each internal quality is matched up with a month that has a natural fit.
The inspiration for a Kindness Wheel is the book, “The Power of Kindness: The Surprising Benefits of Living a Compassionate Life,” by author Pierro Ferrucci. Dr. Ferrucci, an Italian psychotherapist distinguished the eighteen aspects of kindness and devoted a chapter to each.
Structures to support our self-discovery and growing kindness include:
-A Library book discussion group, focused, one essay at a time, one month at a time, on the qualities of kindness distinguished in Ferrucci’s book, “The Power of Kindness.” The first of these will be held on an early October date, to be announced.
-The Kindness Wheel — which can become the starting point for personal reflection as well as conversation and action within a variety of communities.
– A Workplace Climate Survey, designed by the University of Wisconsin, which asks helpful questions that, when addressed, increase the likelihood of workplace satisfaction.
– Facts about the many ways that kindness contributes to health, well-being and effective communication, and in so doing, reduces conflict, stress and expense.
-A dedicated Facebook account for posting: Kindness Today.
-Establishment of Ambassadors to ensure a broad and kind reach into every nook of the community. It truly takes a village — all of us.
-Your additional ideas, including ways to cover modest expenses and/or grand visions!
For more information contact Holly Myers at KindnessCampaign@comcast.net.
