Practice Random Emails of Kindness

Last Friday I woke up to a really nice email. I know, is that even possible? Well, yes, it is.

It was the first interaction I had with “work” that day. The first thing I was tasked to do for the dollars I make. Read email… Not very noble or exciting, but hey, it is a job.

Here is the complete text to the email.

Hi Todd,

There is no doubt that you are very busy right now, and I just want to say, “hello.”  We are lucky to have your help.

Take care, don’t work too hard, and – once we get there (soon) – have a great weekend,

Mary

Of course, I emailed her back and thanked her for making my whole week! I had not seen her in a while so I added if she wanted to chat, to let me know. She replied that she was around later in the afternoon. I sent her a Zoom link for three or four and I ended up ending my Friday chatting with her for an hour.

Our conversation ranged from kids, parents, surviving covid, group dynamics in the workplace, faculty stress levels, student stress levels, and the weather. It was the perfect end to a perfect beginning on Friday. It is the kind of work I like to do. On good days, it might be the kind of work I can be good at. That feels good.

More and more I work simply to create relationships with the faculty I work with. I could spend time making tricky videos, smart .pdfs, or cool websites. But those days are kinda gone for me. All the stuff we used to need is already out there done by way smarter and way more funny people than myself. So, sometimes I find that stuff and share it if it is needed. But even then, that is rare.

When I was there at Yavapai College, Thatcher and I had sticky notes on our damn computer monitors with nothing more than a big number “3” on them. They were there to remind us to have at least three face-to-face interactions with faculty about anything. Work related or otherwise. To do that we had to get out of the office and go out into the world. To go seek interaction. Just because. Just because of the number 3. We dared ourselves. It worked.

So, I dare you, I challenge you to randomly write an email to a colleague, a student, a friend or family member and just let them know you are here, on this planet, and spending a moment thinking of them.

I dare you.