Where Do We Find Kindness When It Feels Thin?

I’ve been thinking about human kindness the way you think about air: you only notice it when it thins out. And lately, it feels thinner.

If you’ve been following the news — elections, slogans, borders, blame — you’ve heard the hard, metallic tone in public language. Fast. Certain. As if tenderness is a liability. Not everywhere, not always, but often enough that it leaves a question hanging: Where is human kindness now? Is it naïve to look for it? Is it an illusion we invented to feel better about ourselves?