kindness · from *gene-, "to give birth"
Kindness is to be taken seriously. It is one of the traits of Agreeableness in the Big 5 Personality framework and the ability to show kindness to others is now widely regarded as one of the required strengths of modern leadership.
A few years ago Sussex University undertook a global project to find out how we feel about kindness ("The Kindness Test 2021"). The results were unsurprising, showing, among other things, that being kind makes both parties feel good and that listening in itself is an act of kindness. Science gives us the evidence that tells us what we already know, that the kinder we are, the more our brain's reward system encourages us to be kind and the better it is for our sense of happiness and self-worth.
So here is something to reflect on. The ancient origin of the word "kindness", used in the modern sense of "being kind to someone", can give us a different perspective on current usage. This is the word-root "gene-", which signified "giving birth", with all its associations of creation and family, and from which many modern words in common use are derived. "Genuine", "gentle" and "genius" are obvious descendants of "gene-" and for a word with an origin more obviously connected with "kind", think of "kin", as in "kith and kin".
So it's natural for human beings to be "kind" to their "kin", to feel themselves to be members of the human family, bound together by a common need to show kindness to each other.
How kind we are, to ourselves as much as to others, is worth a closer look, and often where self-awareness begins. It is part of the ground of my self-awareness coaching, and if you would welcome a conversation, you can reach me at [email protected].