(This post doesn't have much to do with unemployment specifically so just skip over it if you're on a mission to work your way through that problem.)

Kindness is the focal point of my personal ethics. It simplifies things for me. I strive to be kind without any expectation of the same in return. You can't really go wrong from an ethical standpoint if you're just trying to be a nice person and treat other people with respect.

Of course I don't always get it right. I fills me with shame to mistreat someone so I try to avoid that. Like I said, it simplifies things, and simplicity is beautiful (that's a whole other blog post, though).

Think of a continuum of kindness, ranging from Saint-level (100) to Sociopath-level (0). Nobody (that I know) stakes out a static spot on that continuum. Some people are jerks most of the time, but even they can be kind at times. Some of us are kind most of the time with occasional slips. I always try to bear those slips in mind when someone treats me badly, typically failing for a while, being angry, then eventually reaching a point of forgiveness. As I get older, I'm finding that I reach the forgiveness stage much more quickly.

Yesterday was a weird day. I had a potential client hang up on me. Frankly, I don't like the guy and I suppose he doesn't like me. This guy called me a few months ago to help him build a business website. I worked up a design and even wrote several pages of content. Sent him the design and content, then never heard from him. After leaving several messages and getting no response, I figured he had stolen it, paying some kid 50 bucks to finish the work. I never saw a dime out of it.

A few days ago, this "client" (quotes because you're not my client until you pay me) called me out of the blue, impatient and wanting to "get this done." We arranged a meeting which involved my spending $20 on train fare and going pretty far out of my way. When I called to re-schedule, hoping to find a more convenient location, he hung up on me. I called back thinking maybe he had dropped his phone. Straight to voice mail. Whatever. Next time that guy calls me, I won't answer. No use getting worked up about it, even though I need the money.

The universe rewarded me for taking this attitude. Somebody actually sent me a donation for my hard work on this site! That was so cool! (Thanks again, Jennifer! I'll get that poetry chapbook to you by the weekend.)

I guess the point is that you really do get back what you put out in some weird way. In this case it was almost immediate. But that's not why it's good to be kind and forgiving. Even if that donation was cosmically unrelated to my "whatever" attitude toward the "client," taking the high ground by simply resolving to accept that this guy has his own reasons for being a jerk and that I needn't deal with him kept my blood pressure low and my heart light.

The donation made me totally giddy. It was a reminder that somehow, some way, the universe finds a way to reward you for doing the right thing.

It's rent day. I'm broker than yesterday, but it's OK.
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I guess I'm no longer too proud to beg. Chip in a couple bucks if you like what I'm doing and want to help. It's not tax deductible, but it is good karma! All donations will be used for good, not evil.