An Excerpt from an article by Barry Brownstein
“We all know the inner voice that speaks for kindness, compassion, and Love.
As you read, consider: Who and what in your daily life might you see differently if you gave them/it some of the attention you now give your inner chatterbox?
In 2016, Kate Osher, a writer and attorney, told a story about tragedy and the kindness of a famous stranger.
Osher’s husband had committed suicide. Following his wishes, she was on a “travel quest” to scatter his ashes in places that had touched his life. Intending to fly with a Tupperware container of her husband’s ashes, she encountered a “belligerent” TSA agent who demanded that she discard the ashes. Osher’s reaction was strong, and her “hysterics” attracted a real cop who, after examining the death certificate for her late husband, used common sense and allowed her to pass through security, Tupperware in hand.
Still hysterical, she made her way through the throng of humanity at Los Angeles International Airport. No one seemed to care about her distress. Osher collected herself in an airport bar. There she sat, facing a wall, feeling alone with her grief.
Then, words of kindness came to her. Osher felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She recognized the “soft voice” of Robin Williams, who was standing behind her, and said, “Miss, I just want to be sure you are OK. I see you are traveling alone, and I saw what happened, and I just really want to be sure you are OK.”
Robin Williams listened as Kate Osher shared her story. Williams’ voice got even softer as he spoke words we now know were born from a felt experience: “Addiction is a real bitch. Mental illness and depression are the mother of all bitches. I am so sorry for all the pain your husband was in. I’m so sorry for the pain you are in now. But it sounds like you have family and friends and love. And that tips the scale a bit, right?”
Walking her to her gate, Williams got her to laugh by “impersonating people we passed by.” With a “playful” and “not insulting” spirit, Williams made “fun of the TSA agents, especially the one who gave [her] such a hard time.”
True kindness is inclusive. Mistakes may call for correction, but Williams understood that they didn’t call for derision.
Now they were standing at her gate. Williams told her she “had a wonderful laugh” and “a beautiful smile” and they parted with a big hug. In Osher’s words, his compassion “sustained me during one of the most difficult moments of my life.”
This was another day in the kindness office for Robin Williams. Williams was a world-famous actor and comedian, but being kind and compassionate was his way of being in the world.
We don’t know how many people noticed Osher’s distress that day or how many felt an impulse to come to her aid but didn’t. We can imagine why strangers could’ve ignored an impulse to help. Travelers moving along to their flights may have thought, “I don’t want to be a busybody.“ She may not have welcomed my intervention. I never have the right words. I have my own troubles. I don’t know what her issue is; maybe she’s crazy.
“Kindness is love in action,” observes psychologist Robert Holden in his book Loveability. Robin Williams’ encounter with Kate Osher is a story of kindness, love, and hope. By his actions, he reminds us that in our nature is an impulse to connect with other people, despite our own personal suffering.”
Original Article: https://mindsetshifts.substack.com/p/robin-williams-and-the-kindness-of
Mindset Shifts—Essays by Barry Brownstein– Educator and the author of The Inner-Work of Leadership; contributing writer at the American Institute for Economic Research and the Foundation for Economic Education. Mindset Shifts U is a book study feature of his Substack, Mindset Shifts, https://substack.com/@mindsetshifts
