Kindness Over Everything

“Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind,” --- Henry James, Author

At the end of 2017, I walked away from my 15-year career as a television news journalist. A series of health issues and personal tragedies made me realize nothing in life is more important or more valuable than our time.

With the hope of helping others, one day, I’ll get into the weeds of why my husband and I changed our lives so dramatically. But not today. Today is the story of Olive & Auger.

When I left television news, I promised myself I would continue to shine a light in dark places. That is what journalists do and that's what I'll always be, even if I’m not telling stories on TV.

My husband and I sold, donated or gave away almost everything we owned and decided to make a new life at the beach (always our happy place), where I started searching for seashells as passionately as I once searched for stories to tell.

Immediately, the Olive and the Auger shells appealed to me. They were so different from the others, uniquely shaped and textured. One thin and prickly, the other portly and smooth. They both appeared in different colors and patterns and sizes. And they were all beautiful in their own way. Like us. Like humans.

Like many others, I'm sure, I have been deeply impacted by the ugliness in our society today. The meanness. The degradation of our political discourse. The bigotry and racism. We shouldn’t have to look so hard for the kindness.

I can remember the first time I heard my husband say to just “be a good human.” He was saying we don’t need to divide ourselves into groups of good. Not a good fill-in-the-religion or a good fill-in-the-gender or a good fill-in-the-nationality. Just a good human. Because in the end, our humanity is what binds all of us together.

We believe it’s an important message for these times. To see what unites us, rather than what divides.

I found a peace I’ve never known searching for olive and auger shells. And during those searches, I decided I would try to put a little kindness back into the world. I want you to have a little of the peace I've found, so each shirt you buy comes with an Olive & Auger bag containing one of each shell, hand collected by me.

It’s really not about selling shirts. It’s about celebrating our differences, being nice, being good humans, putting kindness over everything.

I hope to use this journal to tell stories of the kindness I encounter. I hope you will contact me here if you have a “kindness story” to share. This is one way I’ll continue to shine a light in dark places and I hope, if you are so inclined, you will do the same.

#BeAGoodHuman