Kindness is a matrix, a milieu where peace thrives. It is the warmth that lingers after a pleasant encounter, the anticipation that awaits the next one, the curiosity that lends an ear to an opposing view. Kindness enriches empathy.

It is a chamber that cancels echoes and nurtures conversation.

It steadies the rhythm of life. It relaxes breathing and unquickens the heartbeat. It is the best self-service that serves all others.

It is a perspective that settles an easy smile on the lips, like the mysterious glow of twilight. Life becomes more livable.

Kindness is a final common path where love, empathy, generosity, camaraderie and decency blend in complete harmony. It nourishes the human soul and is imperative for humanity.

Kindness does not judge. Empathy allows the benefit of the doubt. Kindness harbors the possibility of redemption. It soothes. It heals.

Shakespeare, through Portia, mused that mercy is twice blest — blessing him that gives and him that takes. But mercy, for all its nobility, is a little hierarchical. It flows downward: from judge to judged, from the powerful to the powerless. It requires a wrong, and someone positioned to forgive it. Kindness asks for less and reaches further. It is evenly grounded, passing between equals. It requires no wrongdoer and no verdict — only two people and a moment. We cannot all be in a position to grant mercy. We can all afford to be kind. Or kinder.

Kindness and generosity are not weakness or surrender. Moral uprightness will at times test our commitment to peace, and resorting to arms may yet be the necessary recourse. But kindness will keep many fires from flaring in the first place. There is merit in a position of strength: strength can empower kindness, and virtue can have a virtuous cycle of its own.

The algorithms that curate our feeds are engineered to reward outrage. They aggregate and filter our most combustible passions, amplifying anger into virulence. Kindness is the one thing they cannot monetize. It is worth carrying with us, offline and online.

Human interactions are an exercise in the realm of possibilities. Love and hate are powerful emotions, aroused by intimate experience, and all outcomes crowd the table. But kindness mellows the options. It is a do-good amplification cascade. It brings out the best in us. It exalts.

Practice kindness. Be kind. Inspire kindness. It is a discipline, not a mood — and surely worth the effort.

Let kindness be the bridge.

This piece appeared in the Community Voices section of The Bakersfield Californian.