I am not one known for my love of Christmas. I think there is too much emphasis put on stuff and consumerism.
This year, consumerism seems to be on steroids. Walmart offered early shopping deals on holiday gifts beginning on October 8th. I remember when I was a little girl, you had to wait until after Thanksgiving before Christmas items appeared on the shelf. This year, most of the shelves in the stores in my little community featured Halloween candy next to Christmas trees. This practice is known as "holiday creep". And I hate it.
My family accuses me of being stingy and they aren’t wrong. But I also think those gifts that are the most meaningful and bring the most joy are ones that can’t be purchased. Research shows that individual acts of kindness can have a real impact not only on individuals, but also on the global level when these acts are collective. This is true at multiple levels: between individuals, between people and institutions, and between cultures.
Let me give you an example. A couple of weeks ago, my lovely neighbor Babs and her sister-in-law Penny donated two perfectly good couches to two international graduate students at Western Illinois University they had never met. Babs was delighted to have the couches removed from her home for free and the students were overjoyed to receive furniture for their sparsely furnished apartments. None of this would have been possible without the kindness of Penny loaning the use of her husband’s pickup truck for the transportation. It cost only a bit of gas and brought joy to everyone involved.
Random acts of kindness don’t have to be grand gestures. From expressing gratitude to surprising someone with a mug of hot chocolate on a cold day, people tend to underestimate how positively others will respond to their random acts of kindness.
A memory from long ago that still brings me joy is when the Stegall family, along with a few of their musically gifted friends, stopped by our house to sing Christmas carols to our family. Just thinking about this gift brings a smile to my face.
Yet, despite the fact that we know that connecting with and being kind to others is good for your health, the world is experiencing a loneliness epidemic that the COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated. Research has shown that those who fully engaged in their kind acts, experience reductions in both anxiety and depression.
There are three things we can all do that make small acts of kindness particularly beneficial to happiness. First, doing something outside of your normal routine — for example, drive your neighbor to their doctor’s appointment. This affects your happiness more than routine acts, such as helping your spouse with the dishes.
Second, change up the acts of kindness. For example, one day you might help a co-worker finish their work, while another day you might choose to spend time helping your niece learn to play soccer. Variety is the key.
Third, happiness is boosted when you receive positive feedback about the act of kindness that you did. Knowing how you have helped someone or receiving gratitude and appreciation for your act amplifies your positive feelings. So go forth this season with kindness.
As Ira Glass, one of my favorite NPR voices, once said, “We live in a world where joy and empathy and pleasure are all around us, there for the noticing.”
Heather McIlvaine-Newsad is a Professor of Anthropology at Western Illinois University. Her research focuses on collaborative action for sustainability.
The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the university or Tri States Public Radio.
Diverse viewpoints are welcomed and encouraged.