An Interview with Write Life about The Secret Kindness Agents

WL: What inspired you to write this book?

FP: After posting numerous updates on Facebook about our Secret Kindness project and about how the project was changing me and my students, I started getting messages from various people asking how they could do a similar project with their families, book clubs, classrooms, youth groups, and so on. When Cindy Grady from WriteLife suggested writing a how-to book, it seemed like a natural next step. I thought that if our little project made such a big difference in our lives, how great would it be if it happened in other places too?
  
WL: Did the process of writing this book change your life? How so?

FP: The process of writing the book forced me to reflect deeply on what we had done, and to follow up with my students on how the project had affected them a year later. Their answers renewed my hope for a kinder community, my faith in the power of small acts of kindness becoming habits, and my love for humankind. Realizing how strongly the project affected my students and me through the writing the book of this book changed the way I look at small acts of kindness; I used to think of them as inconsequential, but I know now that they pack a huge punch. In essence, reading this book every time I read about, hear about, or experience injustice will give me fresh energy to go out and try again to be the best version of myself that I can be, and to know that it really doesn't have to take much effort at all. 

WL: Who are a few of your greatest influences and why? 

FP: My parents and grandparents were my biggest influences because they taught me about kindness and compassion, even in the face of hate. I watched them go through heartache and pain and still hold no grudges. They were always giving what they had to others, whether it was time, food, resources, or a place to stay, and they never questioned whether a person was "worthy" of their time and energy.

Mahatma Gandhi and Maya Angelou are my two other great influences. They both have been voices for the voiceless, and people who became leaders out of necessity instead of out of a hunger for power. They have understood the simple essence of humanity and have truly lived what they taught. They both expressed a love for humankind that never waned despite all of they injustice and hatred they faced from their fellow human beings. That kind of selflessness, optimism, and determination to make singular acts count in change-making has always inspired me to, like them, take the next step when I am tired. 

WL: How do the students featured in the book feel about the good they did in their school and community?

FP: My students became a community. More than that, they became a family. They felt more connected to each other and to their school, and they were truly proud of what they did, and continue to do to this day. I still get messages and emails from them telling me about particularly exciting acts of kindness that they have done, or that they have experienced. I've even been the recipient of some of their acts of kindness myself in the year since I left them. I will never forget their beaming faces, chests puffed out in pride, extravagant exclamation points and smiley faces as they told me or wrote to me about their good deeds. 

WL: What is your one wish for people who read this book?

FP: My wish is that the people who read this book see how easy this project is to do, and that they feel empowered to make small and powerful changes together in their own communities by becoming Secret Kindness Agents themselves!

---