Nice? Kind? PINK?

It seems everywhere I look these days, I see pink.

I came across this somewhere (I thought it was Liz Elayne's blog, but when I went back, I couldn't find it; a Google search unearthed it.)

By posting this badge, I'm declaring that in addition to humour, intelligence, wit, sadness, snarkiness, passion, exuberance, peace, stillness, excitability, anger or any other emotion you may witness on my site:

1) I will never intentionally hurt other people, whether I know them or not, whether they blog or not, whether they're celebrities or not, either through my words or my images. It's just not my style; and

2)  I hope that by the time you've clicked away from my site, I've helped in some way to make your day just a little bit better.

Signed,

Me

A lovely idea, and a lovely image. And I thought:

• I'm trying to cut back on sidebar stuff; and
• I'm not qualified for this, anyway.

Then I thought some more, and I decided -- I am kind. I may be sometimes oblivious, and sometimes clumsy, but I am rarely (deliberately) unkind.

Very rarely.

But I'm not nice.

DoppelMe via Google Blogoscoped

I looked them up, to be sure:

nice  (ns)
adj. nic·er, nic·est
1. Pleasing and agreeable in nature: had a nice time.
2. Having a pleasant or attractive appearance: a nice dress; a nice face.
3. Exhibiting courtesy and politeness: a nice gesture.
4. Of good character and reputation; respectable.
5. Overdelicate or fastidious; fussy.
6. Showing or requiring great precision or sensitive discernment; subtle: a nice distinction; a nice sense of style.
7. Done with delicacy and skill: a nice bit of craft.

Well, OK, I hope for #6 and #7, but the others -- ummm -- maybe not.

Then we have:

kind 1  (knd)
adj. kind·er, kind·est
1. Of a friendly, generous, or warm-hearted nature.
2. Showing sympathy or understanding; charitable: a kind word.
3. Humane; considerate: kind to animals.
4. Forbearing; tolerant: Our neighbor was very kind about the window we broke.
5. Generous; liberal: kind words of praise.

This is more descriptive of me, I think. I'm told.

My FairyGoddessDaughter, Abigail, tells me that I am "relentlessly perceptive, and relentlessly honest." Honesty is sometimes not nice -- but is it really kind to be dishonest? Is it a kindness to pretend?

I think I'm more like Shelley in this (though not as clever.)

One of the things that bewilders me about niceness advocates is the theory that one should pretend to accept thin excuses and lies. Would you rather be liked (even loved) for what you pretend to be, or for your wholeness, including even those bits that you think you've hidden from the world? Do you angrily reject those who really know you?

Foolish you.

Foolish me, at times.

More pink:

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month - during which bloggers are encouraged to pink up our blogs. I bet you're already aware. And, until I get that mammogram, it seems hypocritical of me to turn Watermark pink.

The Pink Shirt Campaign:

Two Grade 12 students at Central Kings Rural High School, David Shepherd and Travis Price, came up with the idea after hearing about a Grade 9 boy who was harassed for wearing a pink polo shirt.

They went to a discount store and bought 50 pink shirts, including tank tops, to wear to school the next day.

Brave boys! It's so much easier to be quiet.

And, of course, there's CODEPINK: Women for Peace:

CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education and other life-affirming activities.

So PINK no longer is just for girls, Hello Kitty and Barbie dolls, but represents taking a stand: against illness; against bullies; against war. 

Nice color!

Comments

[Cathy]

I'm getting sick of seeing all the pink on everything. Tab over kill to me. Love the figure of you. As for me, I tried to be nice but I rather leave them guessing what mood on in.