Philadelphia Celebrates Day of Kindness

The City of Philadelphia was supposed to be celebrating a visit from His Holiness the Dalai Lama today and tomorrow, as part of the joyous occasion surrounding him being given the Liberty Medal for peace and compassion. Unfortunately, the Dalai Lama was unable to travel to the United States as scheduled, due to health complications. Philadelphia is going ahead today with an event planned in tribute to the Dalai Lama’s message: a Day of Kindness.

A volunteer hangs peace flags outside City Hall in this Philly.com photograph.

Let’s face it – Philadelphia doesn’t necessarily have a reputation for kindness. In fact, it’s rather the opposite: this is the city that destroyed the well-intentioned Hitch Bot, the city whose sports fans are known for especial nastiness and a penchant for profanity. It is a city full of quintessential city dwellers, who are often so busy going about their own business that they don’t necessarily think much about the wellbeing of their neighbor.

Tomorrow, hopefully, that will change.

J. Nathan Bazzel, executive director of the citywide official Day of Kindness, points out that kindness is “contagious.” He hopes that a chain of kindness begetting kindness will ripple through the city, spreading the love from corner to corner. Bazzel says that small gestures are all it takes to spread kindness. You could, for instance, share a cab or your umbrella, he gave as examples. Alternately, you could slip a quarter into a meter that’s about to expire or simply give someone your attention who needs to talk.

Outside City Hall will fly an art installation called “Kindness in the Wind,” which will fly 3,000 handmade peace flags. A website, adayofkindness.org, invites visitors to share their own stories of kindness, ad also matches nonprofit organizations with volunteers.

Can one day turn around Philadelphia’s hard-bitten reputation? It remains to be seen. But the kindness wave will certainly be a good start.