The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment: Kindness

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

The Kindness Project: Prayers and Apologies

Too often kindness is relegated to a random act performed only when we’re feeling good. But an even greater kindness (to ourselves and others) occurs when we reach out even when we aren't feeling entirely whole . It’s not easy, and no one is perfect. But we’ve decided it’s not impossible to brighten the world one smile, one kind word, one blog post at a time. To that end, a few of us writers have established The Kindness Project, starting with a series of inspirational posts.

I have to apologize. I had something really special planned for today, but it fell through, because I didn't plan it far enough ahead. But that's not really why I didn't post until so late in the day.

Last night we had a family medical emergency. My ten-year-old, Madi, went to the doctor yesterday afternoon. They diagnosed her with severe strep throat, and mononucleosis at the same time. But it didn't seem that serious, so they sent her home with a prescription for antobiotics, and orders to rest and hydrate. Then, last night, her throat swelled up so badly she couldn't swallow.

We took her to the hospital, and she got some shots and an IV to re-hydrate, and now she's okay. Still in a lot of pain, and still running a high fever, but okay. So it was a rough night last night, and I stayed home from work today, just in case, and all my plans for an awesome Kindness Project post were shot.

I'm sure you all will understand.

But it did bring something to mind. I have some friends whose kids are struggling with their health as well. In fact, I have two in particular whose health is worse than Madison's. SH and LBM could both use our prayers and positive energy. And for that matter, I'm sure Lenny Lee's health probably isn't out of the woods yet.

So let's do this: if you're religious, say a prayer and ask God to help these kids, or help all sick kids, really. If you're a Buddhist, when next you meditate, send some healthy Oms their way. If you're neither, maybe you could just send some positive vibes their way? I know these poor kids sure deserve to feel better.

And the meantime, please visit these other Kindness Project blogs, the ones who actually did their job today:

Carolina Valdez Miller
Sophia Chang
Erica Chapman
Leigh Moore
Claire Hennessy
Katharine Owen
Elizabeth Poole

I promise to have something more concrete for you next month.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The Kindness Project

Too often kindness is relegated to a random act performed only when we’re feeling good. But an even greater kindness (to ourselves and others) occurs when we reach out even when we aren't feeling entirely whole . It’s not easy, and no one is perfect. But we’ve decided it’s not impossible to brighten the world one smile, one kind word, one blog post at a time. To that end, a few of us writers have established The Kindness Project, starting with a series of inspirational posts.

So I've teamed up with some amazing bloggers, as I am wont to do. Whenever I get invited to these things, I think, do I really have time for one more thing? And sometimes I don't, but this time I do.

To me, kindness and compassion are part of who I am. If you follow this blog, and you know me, you know I jump at the chance to help others. Especially other writers. I've been given a lot of help in my life, and the only way I know how to pay it back is to pay it forward. But this idea, this Kindness Project is supposed to be more than just that.

I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do yet. I mean it's been a long time since I worked in a soup kitchen in downtown Atlanta as a teenager, and it's been a long time since I volunteered for an animal rescue service in Saint Paul, and I don't know that with a family, a full time job, and a desire to be an author, that I have a lot of time for things like that anymore, but I do have time for something. I just have to figure out what it's going to be.

For today (this was actually already scheduled, and just happened to fall into place nicely) I've written what I think is an awesome guest post for my friend Jessica Salyer. It's a summary on query letters, my journey through the trenches (still going on) and lists a ton of great resources for getting to know the art of the query better. If you know anyone planning on querying soon, or if you're just curious to know more about how I (supposedly) got good at them. Please visit Jessica's blog, and read my post.

So I'll be thinking about what I want to do, but for now, please visit all the other wonderful bloggers involved in The Kindness Project: