The Kindness of Strangers

Have you experienced kindness from a stranger while traveling? I don’t mean a friendly hello or common everyday occurrence, but the kind of kindness that stops you in your tracks. I’ll never forget the family I met on a plane from Sicily to Spain, who took me under their wing and invited me to stay at their home in Madrid.

This experience was a defining moment in my life, where I really fell in love with traveling because I thought this was the only way I would find this type of warmth from a stranger.

The Kindness of Strangers

As a young twenty-something, I naively thought this type of kindness was limited to other cultures and had my doubts about having this same experience in my home country. I no longer feel this way, but I do still think it’s more common for travelers to experience these situations.

Now with technology at our fingertips, we can essentially visit another country via our devices. We can have video chats, online hangouts and real-time conversations with people from all over the world. In other words, we can experience kindness from strangers on a daily basis.

I’m always happy to support companies who have a larger purpose, so when Dignity Health approached me about their Rise & Smile app — which focuses on spreading human kindness around the world — I felt it was a worthy cause to share.

The Story Behind the Rise & Smile App:

“We think the world would be a kinder place if we all began the day in a good mood. Set your alarm and wake to messages of kindness from people around the world. Then submit your own (6-10 second) kind video for others. And just like that, you’ve spread some human kindness.”

The app is free and it’s available for both Android and iOS devices. You can record videos similar to Vine, which allows you to pause and start recording as many times as you like, within the 6-10 seconds.

Since the app won’t allow me to share the video I created, I’m sharing a simple video that I recorded on my phone to give you an example of how easy it is to create a video to share with the Rise & Smile community.

To start spreading your kindness, click here to download the app or learn more about the Rise & Smile app.

Disclosure: This post was written as part of a paid promotion with Dignity Health, however, all opinions are my own.