Editor’s Perspective: November 8th Issue

“I think the best role models for women are people who are fruitfully and confidently themselves, who bring light into the world,” —Meryl Streep

It’s been said that no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. Beautiful in its simplicity, it points to the ripple effect that kindness can make in the world. The ancient Greeks viewed kindness as not only beneficial for the salvation of the soul in the afterlife, but also in this life too! Physiologically, kindness increases the dopamine levels in our brains, creating a natural high. Meanwhile, emotional warmth produces oxytocin, which reduces blood pressure and the free radicals associated with aging.

Our beautiful cover model this issue, Jacinda Adhern, has been taking messages of kindness to a global stage. “I really rebel against this idea that politics has to be a place full of ego and where you’re constantly focused on scoring hits against one another,” she said in a recent interview. “Yes we need a robust democracy, but you can be strong and you can be kind.”

Early in my media career I had the wonderful opportunity to interview Whitebait TV’s Janine Morrell-Gunn. Living, breathing proof that being a successful businesswoman and being a nice person are not mutually exclusive, she said, “You don’t have to be an ass to get what you want”.

“There are a lot of tough people in television, but we have this saying ‘first do no harm’. It is possible and we have always tried to treat people well.”

Thankfully we have plenty of inspirational women leaders, both locally and internationally, who too believe in the virtue of kindness