A bouquet of kindness

A bouquet of kindness

beauty, discovery, kindness, moments, sharing

This Russian writer remembers moments in her harsh Siberian childhood where someone showed passing kindness and in so doing, made her and her sister feel they were recognised as human beings.  Coming as they did from a family of political exiles, in a system where the...
First taste of freedom

First taste of freedom

freedom, happiness, kindness, resilience, sharing

Freed from labour camp in September 1953, following the demise of Stalin, the few survivors still standing left the camp and headed for the nearby village, where they were given a simple, spontaneous and sensitive welcome.As I was thinking this a girl between eight...
Of sweets and violets

Of sweets and violets

authenticity, kindness, moments

How about this loving description of a driver who charms Golding in Istanbul, handing him and his companion endearing gifts.  None of which prevented him charging them a pile of dosh for his services. His heart was as golden as his teeth, for we had not been in the...
Happiness makes one more intelligent

Happiness makes one more intelligent

nuannaarpoq

While I’m not sure if this is true, I found it a striking statement, particularly given the context.  It’s from a letter written by a husband in 1920s China, who knew or sensed that he would soon lose his life due to a perilous political situation.  His...
A banquet breakfast

A banquet breakfast

moments, sharing

I like detailed descriptions of meals and picnics. Here Steinbeck sets down in detail a stupendous and outrageously over-rich breakfast laid before him and Robert Capa on their travels in Ukraine. Remember, this was a country which had suffered one of the...
Exchange of gifts

Exchange of gifts

kindness, moments, sharing

What a lovely moment, the exchange of small, loving gifts, with Golding and his friend receiving a bunch of fresh picked garden flowers. We enjoy such exchanges with one of our neighbours in the form of food gifts – when either of us bakes, something gets taken...
A luminous human

A luminous human

inspiration, kindness, resilience

Certainly the strongest and most loving influence on Gorky’s troubled childhood was his grandmother.  Her capacity to maintain her belief in life and humanity despite repeated evidence of its worst aspects, is astonishing.  Here Gorky pays tribute to the power...
Of cake and roses

Of cake and roses

happiness, moments, nuannaarpoq

I recently celebrated a birthday. We drove into Geneva for a walk around the old town, stopping for hot chocolates and cakes here and there. Before we left, a friend and neighbour rang the bell to drop off a lace-crocheted initial she had made for me, the letter B...
An all-embracing toast

An all-embracing toast

kindness, moments, sharing

Hard to imagine a toast which encompasses more. This is John Steinbeck’s description of the open-hearted hospitality he enjoyed, together with his friend the photographer Robert Capa, when they were invited to dine with ordinary people on their month-long trip...
Unspoken kindness

Unspoken kindness

kindness, moments

David Esterly describes an act of kindness in which the unspoken is heard in the spoken. His wife lost a close relative. A few days later a lifelong friend and neighbour pitched up with a box of garden-grown vegetables. He didn’t mention the loss, only what was...
A hamper of friendship

A hamper of friendship

kindness, sharing

Something magical about hampers and other gifts of food and drink. I could live without the arack, but love the cheese, pomegranates, and raisin and fig selection, a perfect picnic snack. See also Pliny the Younger on a gift of dates.’A little later he sent us...
Gifts from strangers

Gifts from strangers

kindness, sharing

I am curious and charmed by the rituals and choices of gift-giving, particularly when done with kindness and generosity rather than from obligation. Here Rory Stewart lists the humble but thoughtful gifts given to him on his walk across Afghanistan, for his family in...
A date with dates

A date with dates

moments, sharing

Pliny the Younger is a favourite correspondent, warm, cantankerous, impatient of news.  He gets mad as hell with friends who claim to have no time to write, and tells them roundly not to bother him with excuses about being busy in the Senate or other such nonsense....
The first Nuannaarpoq Award?

The first Nuannaarpoq Award?

happiness, nuannaarpoq, sharing

When I read this story, it felt as if an occasional Nuannaarpoq Award might be in order, and I can’t think of a more moving or humbling example of the spirit of nuannaarpoq than this one. ‘Inscribed on five of the six pillars in the Holocaust Memorial at...

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