Pond Prompts - 9/17/07

Define kindness.

Kindness, as opposed to altruism, is about both others and self. When you do something kind, you do it to benefit the other person, but you also do it because it makes you feel good. Kindness generates positive feelings in both individuals.

Kindness is acting upon feelings of love. To love outwardly is to be kind.

A trip to the Art Museum makes me feel...

Awed by the creativity of others. I may not like or understand each and every piece I view, but I can at least respect the time and effort spent creating the art. I'm especially amazed by details - the more detailed a piece is, the more I enjoy it. Art is not just about creativity, but discipline. You must have a great amount of discipline and focus to spend weeks, months, or even years creating a fantastically detailed piece of art.

Art museums make me put the non-verbal part of my mind to use. I enjoy simply looking at everything, trying to form a personal feeling about what I'm seeing. I'll occasionally read the description of a piece to find out more about its creation or meaning, but more often I will just let the art speak for itself. Art is personal, and by viewing art I'm able to get in touch with my own creativity. I'm able to allow myself to form my own opinion of something, good or bad, based on the feelings I get while looking at all the pieces.