The Goodness of Humanity

For the last several years, a reliable highlight of the rhythms of my work year is the few weeks in the second half of June and early July. That’s when I run workshops and team building programs for students starting a Summer college experience – as researchers, interns, student leaders, or degree-seeking students. Many of these are international students, visiting from overseas (though that number has dropped in the last 18 months), and, almost without fail, these are some of my favorite programs all year.

The groups always bring a wonderful mix of experiences and perspectives, making each program unique and fun; even if I use a similar activity two programs in a row, the results are wildly different based on the participants. The mix of personalities and cultures leads to some joyful conversations, great stories, and eye-opening reflections.

Within these fun seasons, I’ve also had rare programs where one person in particular – a different person each time – has been fundamental to the experience of the day, both for me and for the team that is there. Someone who comes in with positive energy, joy, humor, support, and a sense of wonder. A person that encourages others in the group from the get-go (even if they didn’t know each other before), and who wants to get to know others and see them succeed. A person that leaves me – and my sense is that it’s not just me – feeling so glad they met, and better about the world as a whole simply because that person is in it.

To be clear, the people that are coming to mind as I type this are a mix of gender identities, ages, nationalities, neurodiversity, and staff/student position, and these aren’t people that I keep in touch with after the program ends – these are single-day encounters that impact how I think about strangers; especially immigrants. (Reminiscent, perhaps, of the Algeria National Team visiting Lawrence, Kansas, or the Tartan Army of Scotland fans bringing so much joy to Boston.) At the risk of extrapolating too widely, people like this show me the goodness of humanity.

As I said, these are also rare – perhaps I encounter someone like this once every year or so. Are these people like this every day of their lives? Maybe. Or maybe I was lucky. Maybe this is their perfect environment to shine. Or maybe I’m more tuned in to recognize the impact of these people because of the season I’m in. Who knows?

I wonder, though, if these people realize the impact they have on others? And the other side of that is… I wonder if you realize the impact you have on others? Perhaps if someone encounters you on the right day, in the right moment, you might leave them feeling better about the world; you might show them the goodness of humanity.

As the FIFA World Cup continues and we enter the July national celebrations in Canada, the United States, and France among others, amidst the stripping of protections for Syrian and Haitian immigrants in the US, perhaps now might be a good time to be on the lookout for the goodness of humanity. And maybe to try to bring some of that goodness ourselves.

How might this be helpful for you this week?

This Week’s Tips:

• Think back to people in your life who you only knew for a brief time (a day or so), but who you still remember now and who impacted you in some positive way. You might not even know their name, or be able to articulate quite what was so impactful, but if those things come to mind, write them down or share them with someone you are close to.

• Be on the lookout for people who have that kind of positive impact on you moving forward. If and when it happens, resist the urge to try to turn it into a new friendship or working relationship unless your paths happen to cross again.

• Ask yourself what it would look like for you to interact with someone in a short-term setting (a program, a project, a conference, etc.) that would leave them feeling like they’ve experienced some of the goodness of humanity, through kindness and authenticity. That might look very different for you than I described above, so don’t try to be like someone else – be yourself!

Try these out this week, and let us know how it goes! We’d love to hear from you.

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