We are so easily sarcastic and cutting. I’m not pointing any fingers here, there have been times it’s been an artform in my life. And that irony was meant to amuse. And it always amuses the artist, and often the audience… and it frequently wounds the object of the biting, so-called witty repartee.

And yet, we the witty, are aghast at bullies. And not all sarcasm is bullying… but it can be an easy edge from one to the next.

Words are unbelievably powerful. Choosing words of kindness can build up a world rather than destroy it. If we’re going to work to stop bullying, and we must, then we must learn the art of kindness… not that awful saccharine, glib stuff… but real and heartfelt sweetness that makes space for everyone…

I’m working on it… and on finding a way to make observations funny, but not wounding…