Real Life Little acts of kindness

We may not be able to do good deeds in a traditional way right now, but as Kim Willis discovers, there’s plenty we can do while staying close to home

As lockdown restrictions finally begin to lift, I’ve realised how much I’ve missed things like hugging friends and taking foreign holidays, but I also miss the little things that can make a day brighter, like holding a door open for a stranger, having a chat with someone at the supermarket without masks hiding our smiles, and generally feeling like part of a great, mingling, co-operative community.

Research has shown that good deeds boost the feel-good hormones serotonin and dopamine, and German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once described kindness as ‘the golden chain by which society is bound’. We need each other – and right now, it feels hard to find ways to do good in the world while adhering to government guidelines, even if they are starting to ease. Yearning for connection, I set out to do a lockdownfriendly act of kindness every day, and found there’s still so much that can be done to do good and feel good.