By: Aleiah Yzabhelle B. Mitra of Grade 8D – Curie
By any chance, have you ever thought that love is defined only by romance? Or perhaps by family bonds, love for oneself, or personalities shaped by sympathy? I’m sure these thoughts have crossed your mind at least once in your life. But what if I told you that in this cruel world—where we are expected to stand strong and fight fiercely—love and kindness are among the most powerful voices of them all?
Love and kindness have the power to unite and shape humanity. Yet these traits are often misunderstood. Many people remain unaware of their true depth, leading to constant misconceptions. Don’t you notice how people struggle to maintain relationships in pursuit of longevity? If we observe closely, marriages sometimes end in divorce, friendships easily fall apart, family members drift into conflict, many people struggle to love themselves, and empathy often feels scarce. Love and kindness encompass all these struggles and more. Perhaps the best thing we can do with them is to restore our faith in humanity, for they may be the very keys to saving it in a world where cruelty is often normalized.
And I’m here to say that it starts with you.
There is a book I once read titled “Love for Imperfect Things: How to Accept Yourself in a World Striving for Perfection” by Haemin Sunim. One quote completely changed my perspective: “When you care for yourself first, the world will also find you worthy of care.”
As someone who once believed that selflessness alone makes a person “good”—because I grew up thinking that being good meant always putting others first—I realized that caring for yourself is never selfish. In fact, being kind to yourself encourages a deeper proclivity for benignity, or a natural tendency toward kindness.
Some people may oppose this idea. In today’s modern and competitive world, love and kindness are sometimes seen as signs of naivety—or even weakness. From this perspective, “benignity” can seem like a luxury that only a few people can afford, especially when survival often requires a thick skin and a guarded heart. We instinctively fear being “too kind,” believing we must protect ourselves from disrespect or from people who may cross our boundaries.
However, this viewpoint confuses kindness with passivity.
True kindness—especially the kind directed toward oneself—is actually an act of courage. It takes far more strength to remain open and empathetic in a cynical world than it does to simply accept the cruelty that surrounds us. Choosing kindness does not mean becoming a doormat; it means having the inner stability to offer grace without losing yourself.
In a world that often rewards the loudest and harshest voices, choosing love and kindness becomes a radical act. We see the signs of our time: broken marriages, distant families, and the quiet absence of empathy. Yet these are not proof that humanity is failing. Rather, they are symptoms of a world that has forgotten how to nourish its roots.
As Haemin Sunim reminds us, we cannot pour from an empty cup. The “worthiness of care” we seek from the world must first be something we grant ourselves.
If we are to resist the normalization of cruelty, we must stop viewing kindness as passive and begin recognizing it as a transformative force. It is the power that bridges the gap between “me” and “us.” By embracing our imperfections and choosing a proclivity for benignity, we do more than improve our own lives—we become living proof that humanity is still worth saving.
The door to a kinder future is not locked from the outside.
The key has always been the love we begin within ourselves.
“One of the selected writers for February, highlighting the theme: Voices of Love and Kindness.”