“I think it is as important to document kindness, civility, and generosity of spirit as it is to show cruelty, banality, and indifference.”
— Documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman

The other day, I was listening to two of my favorite voices—Simon Sinek and Trevor Noah—on a podcast. Trevor was talking about the origin of the word kindness, and something he said stayed with me long after the episode ended.

“In most languages,” Trevor explained, “kindness is connected to generosity, service, and doing good for others. Whether it’s French, Arabic, Chinese, or Greek, the idea is the same—to give, to serve, to care. Simple. Beautiful. Straight from the heart. But in English, the word kindness comes from something different. It comes from the word kind—as in humankind, kindred, my kin. In other words… we are the same. You are me, and I am you.”

That idea hit me deeply. It felt like an answer to something I’d been searching for for a long time. Because maybe that’s exactly what we’re missing today.

We live in a world where everyone is in their own lane. Everyone has their own little screen, their own feed, their own algorithm. You watch what you want, when you want. You hear what you agree with. You follow people who think exactly like you.

At first glance, it sounds great—but there’s a problem.

We are drifting away from the idea that we are the “same kind.”

Back in the day, families watched the same TV shows together. Maybe you didn’t love what your parents were watching, but you sat there anyway and made it work. Why? Because it was family time. It was something shared. We laughed at the same jokes. We talked about the same moments.

Today, it feels like everyone lives in a separate world—same house, different realities. And when we stop sharing experiences, we stop understanding one another. Kindness becomes harder.

Because real kindness isn’t just being nice to people we like. Real kindness is giving a piece of yourself to someone else. And that is not easy. It means listening even when you disagree. It means showing up when you’d rather stay away. It means staying present when walking away would be easier.

Kindness takes effort. It takes courage. Sometimes, it even takes risk.

Think about major sporting events or cultural moments when the entire world seems to talk about the same thing. For a brief time, we feel connected again. We become the “same kind.” We laugh together. We react together. We feel something together. In the world we live in now, those moments are more valuable than ever.

Because without kindness, there is no real community. No tribe. No true sense of belonging.

Kindness empowers people. It makes them feel seen, valued, heard, and loved. But here’s the truth: kindness isn’t just a feeling. It’s an action—and actions take effort. Kindness is choosing patience over anger. Understanding over judgment. Humanity over ego.

And sometimes, kindness is simply being present.

In a world that constantly pulls us apart, maybe kindness is the one thing that can bring us back together. Maybe being kind is just remembering that we are not so different after all.

I am you.
And you are me.

*Uriel Rendón is a columnist and social motivator focused on community, solidarity, and collective growth.