“Let us learn to live with kindness, to love everyone, even when they do not love us.”
– Pope Francis
As we ring in the new year with expectations that times will continue to be tough, but with hope that perhaps they’ll be better than they were in 2020, it’s a great time to talk about beer and wine. And it’s always a great time to focus on kindness.
You think we’ve had a bad year (and we have) but look at Pope Francis’ tenure. What a bunch of stuff he’s had to deal with. And as politicians plot us against each other, force us to focus on differences rather than bringing us together, there is no better time for some spiritual guidance from a moral figure.
Yes, we sometimes have to be told things we don’t want to hear. Of course, we take in what we want to hear – it’s human nature. But we have to listen to things we don’t want to hear, too. To get from here to there, we need the whole truth, not just the portion we like.
And Pope Francis, Jesus’ representative on Earth, says we should focus on kindness and love toward all people, including those who don’t love us.
I’m not going to get into a deeply religious dissertation. But if you don’t want to hear that, you may need to examine your spiritual outlook.
Kindness: An Interfanatic Quality
We work so hard for our customers, we work so hard to show them kindness even when they don’t reciprocate.
We all have differences of opinion. Often, differences can be traced to poor communication. We work very hard to ensure excellent communication, but when that effort is not put back, relationships can break down. As I reflect on the years of clients, most of my memories are fond ones. But there have been a few that are not so fond.
The Pope reminds me to extend my kindness even to those who create unhappy instances. It’s difficult, but it’s crucial for us to do that not just in business but in all areas of life. We need understanding.
South Bay Beer & Wine Festival, brought about by Kindness
It’s hard not to think of Karen Greenberg when I recall kindnesses. Talk about a person who has had a rough year. 2020 may well have been remembered as the Year of the Karen had it not been for COVID-19. And there are few people in this world who are less of a Karen than Karen Greenberg.
Through one of her many charitable activities, Karen Green berg works on the South Bay Beer & Wine Festival. A charitable event of revelry and fun, but of course, not in 2020.
“…there are few people in this world who are less of a Karen than Karen Greenberg.”
Nonetheless, I think of Karen and how she brought us in to this project when it needed digital expertise and marketing help. I think of Karen when I think of kindness because that’s through and through what she is.
Interfanatic Service Focus: Interfanatic Power AI-Powered Social Marketing with Setup
Social media requires kindness. It requires reciprocation of kindness. When a person follows your account or likes your content, it is a knock on the door to reciprocate that kindness and build something together. Start small, but work to get larger.
Most people do not understand the work that goes into professional social media. Not only is it planning and massive labor, it is strategy and effort and creativity. Most people think of teenage girls clicking heart emojis, and they think, “that’s not hard”. But executing a complete social media strategy in concert with a larger digital marketing campaign takes dedication and work. And once the posts are done, you’re only just beginning. You must not only curate your feed, you must curate your interactions. You must reciprocate the kindness done to you, not hoard it like a digital miser.
Our AI-Powered Social Media service is an inexpensive way to produce quality content so you can spend more time reciprocating kindness and nurturing your followership. It reduces some of your work, so you can focus on the rest – hopefully, the fun part.
Interfanatic: Working on Kindness
I enjoy nurturing new relationships. Whether it’s through Social Media or through some other venue, a new relationship can be fun. And often, opening these doors begins with kindness, even with people with whom we do not completely agree.
This week’s image:
Interfanatic‘s founder, Ryan Delane, takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.
If you’re scratching your head, I don’t blame you. Sometimes my pictures fit the week’s Interfanatic Quality on the head, sometimes you have to think about it. In thinking of kindness, I was drawn to this beautiful chandelier from the Getty Villa because it reminds me how some bright lights of kindness are reflected and spread upon the many around. As a chandelier, kindness can be covered or it can be amplified. I wish to be more like this chandelier with the kindnesses done unto me.