In the end, only kindness matters: Operation Nice

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . June 9, 2009 . 1:11PM

Jewel’s song “Hands” is one of my favorites because of the line, “In the end, only kindness matters.” If you’ve been around here for a while, you probably know that kindness is, well, pretty important to me. No, I don’t always follow thru with being kind, but nobody does. I try and I think I get some brownie points for that. The key here is that I think, regardless of any religious or spiritual or naturalistic beliefs, that Jewel was right: No matter what you believe, Kindness is going to be important in where you go and what you do.

I have friends that laugh and remind me of my naivete about once a week. It’s true that I’m a 20-(mrph) year old woman, but I don’t think I’m naive for going with the best in people. I have experiences in my life that I don’t talk about here or in the offline world. I have personal scars and things that have wounded and hurt me. I’m not a Pollyanna and I’m not an eternal optimist. I work at seeing the good in things. And it’s hard. But it’s worth it.

With that being said, I also think Karma rocks. Back in May I wrote an article based on something my friend Rsmcain said: If you want to get visitors, throw other bloggers a bone. He didn’t put it that delicately, but as a Southern woman (I know better than to call myself a lady), I think I’ll just leave it how I wrote it.

Because I’m a new blogger, I spend a lot of time looking at other blogs. Lately, it’s because I’m bored with the design of mine and am looking to poach a designer (not a design) from someone and get myself a handy, dandy new style. It’s also because I might find some new widget or gadget that they have, or a new setup or some new inspiration that I might build on. Ultimately, I’m an introvert and I like making friends through the internet. It’s less messy that way, isn’t it?

While looking around, I noticed an interesting button on someone’s blog. It said: “I’m very nice.” And I thought, “You are? How very presumptuous of you to think you are nice!” However, then I immediately thought “I want one, too! I’m very nice. I must have that button so others know I’m nice, too!”

When I clicked on the button, it took me to an orange and black site that was, for a kindness junkie, the mecca of all that is good. It’s called “Operation Nice: Encouraging Individuals to be Proactively Nice.” The goal is pretty self-explanatory in encouraging others to do just a little bit every day to make the day of another person a more worthwhile, fulfilling experience.

On Operation Nice, you can share personal stories of kindness, nominate people that you know that exhibit kindness as the “Kind Person of the Week,” get a blog button for your site telling everyone how nice you are (YES!!!), as well as download your own gratitude notes for those that have done something nice for you in your life (freebies are awesome!).

The site is very nicely put together and is a new one that I will definitely be adding to my reader. Take a look and join the mission. You’ll be glad you did.

People are kind

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . May 24, 2009 . 1:35PM

Despite all the nastiness going on in the world, I truly believe people are kind. I’ll wait while you nail me in comments for my naivete. My friends, who have my interests at heart, often remind me of this with warnings and chiding. However, when it comes down to it, I think that people want to help others succeed, especially when they don’t feel threatened by that person in any way. I wanted to thank Smitty, who posts over at the Other McCain, for the kind Hat Tip, which may have led some of you here. And if any of you link to me in any way, or add me to your blogroll, let me know, so that I may return the favor. It means a lot to me and I am a fan of karma and kindness.

How to get a million visitors to your webpage part one

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . May 20, 2009 . 5:52PM

So, it’s no secret that I’m new to blogging and I don’t quite have it all figured out yet. I will continue to fake it until I make it…whatever “making it” is. “Making it” depends on how old you are as to the proper definition. I know that “making it” when I was 17 had a VASTLY different definition than it has now.

One of the articles that was passed on to me by my friend, Moe, was from this blog, The Other McCain. The gist that I get is that I need to do the following things to draw in readers:

I need to:
1/find powerful friends
2/put chicks in next to nothing or seductive wear on my page
3/link to powerful friends
4/make fun of feminists?

So, I’m working on #1. If any of you have these said powerful blogging friends, please refer me to them. I’m not sure I know what that means. However, I am going to accomplish #2, today. So as to draw in male readers, I’m a putting a female in a seductive wear on my page. Enjoy.

1,000,000 visitors, here I come!!