On Kindness

There’s a lot we can learn from children

if we’d stop telling them what to do

long enough to hear them.

Like how to talk to a butterfly,

or what it would be like if the earth’s core

were filled with cats instead of lava.

But above all, if you listen,

the teaching of children is: Be kind.

Speak in a kind voice. Oh, she’s kind, mama.

Be kind. Isn’t that enough?

Kurt Vonnegut said kindness is the only rule.

And then there’s the golden rule. Same thing.

Why do grown-ups forget to be kind?

What makes us leave the simplest, kindest

notion behind, as quaint and unachievable?

If only we could greet our inner child

at the moment an opposing motivation presses

and say, I learned this from you. Be kind.

Corey asked the Real Toads to impart a bit of personal philosophy in the style of, or inspired by, Chris In The Morning from the television show Northern Exposure. I know I’m not alone in asserting that Chris the DJ is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. 

Be sure to read the inspiring and truthy essay Corey penned about writing and community for this prompt:

Life, Love, and the Pursuit of a Really Profound Thought