Suddenly, a scene that brings tears to my eyes—a witness to nameless kindness

Sometimes, I find my eyes suddenly welling up at the most ordinary scenes involving complete strangers.

1. The parent and child I saw on the platform

One morning, I was waiting for a train on the station platform. I think I was in a hurry and feeling a bit irritable. Just then, a little girl and her mother were standing next to me.

The girl was only about three or four years old. She tripped on something and fell. I thought she was going to start crying after scraping her knee. However, her mother didn't panic; she crouched down to be at the girl's eye level and said, "That hurt, didn't it? But you're trying so hard to stand up." The girl looked at her mother with teary eyes, and then stood up on her own. Her mother smiled quietly and said, "Amazing."

It was just that kind of scene. A parent and child I didn't know, with whom I had no connection. Yet, for some reason, on that busy morning platform, my heart suddenly felt warm. The kindness in that one phrase from the mother, "That hurt, didn't it?" And the little girl's resilience in standing up by herself. My frayed heart, which had been in such a rush, was suddenly softened by that nameless scene. Today, I want to write about those scenes in everyday life that suddenly bring tears to my eyes.

2. Even though it has nothing to do with me

What is strange is that when my heart is moved by such scenes, they are events involving strangers with whom I have absolutely no connection.

I don't know that parent and child. I don't know their names, their backgrounds, or what happened to them afterward. I will likely never see them again. And yet, those few dozen seconds of a scene moved my heart. It wasn't that something good had happened to me. I simply witnessed a kind interaction between strangers nearby. Just that is enough to make my heart feel warm. I often wonder what this emotion really is.

Perhaps it is the emotion one feels when witnessing the very best part of humanity. When I wrote about the kindness of strangers before, I talked about being struck by kindness. That was about a time when I was the one being treated kindly. However, kindness moves the heart even if you aren't the one receiving it, just by witnessing it. People being kind to people. Just seeing that scene makes me think, "The world isn't so bad after all." When I wrote about anxiety before, I talked about an anchor that holds onto trust in the world. Nameless, kind scenes also become those anchors. Witnessing the kindness of others gives us a different, yet certain, warmth than being treated kindly ourselves.

3. Casual, yet certain scenes

Looking back, I encounter such scenes that suddenly bring tears to my eyes quite often in my daily life.

On a crowded train, an elderly person who was offered a seat bowed their head repeatedly. The young person who gave up the seat looked a bit embarrassed and looked away. On a rainy day, at the storefront of a convenience store, a clerk lent a plastic umbrella to someone without one, saying, "Please, take this." In a park, an elderly man passing by reached out to a child he didn't know who had fallen, asking, "Are you okay?" At a crosswalk, someone was casually walking alongside a person with a white cane, helping them cross. Each of these is just a scene lasting a few seconds. No one praises them. They aren't captured in photos. Even so, there was definitely human goodness there.

These kinds of scenes aren't things you look for with the intention of finding them. They suddenly enter your eyes and suddenly move your heart. When I wrote about small happiness before, I noted that happiness is something you notice. Nameless, kind scenes are the same. If you have eyes that try to notice them, they are everywhere in daily life. If you walk in a hurry with your head down, you will miss them. But if you lift your face a little and look around, nameless kindness is being quietly exchanged all over the place. Perhaps the world is made of far more small kindnesses than I think.

And on days when I witness such scenes, I myself am able to be a little kinder. When I see the kindness of others, I want to be kind myself. When I wrote about mood and kindness before, I noted that good things are contagious. Witnessing a kind scene is the same. When I see someone being kind to someone else, that kindness is contagious even to me, the witness. Nameless kindness warms not only the hearts of the two people directly involved but also the heart of a third party who happened to see it.

4. The true nature of the tears

Why do I tear up at such scenes? I have tried to think about the true nature of those tears.

It's not that I'm sad. If anything, it's a warm feeling. And yet, for some reason, my eyes get hot. These tears are, I think, tears of relief, thinking, "This kind of kindness still exists in the world." Living day to day, the news is full of dark stories, and I often encounter the coldness of people. I feel like the world is a desolate place. When I suddenly witness a nameless, kind scene at such times, I am reminded, "That's right, this kind of kindness really does exist." The feeling of relief when I am reminded of that turns into tears.

When I wrote about loneliness before, I talked about the feeling of being connected. The tears I shed when witnessing nameless kindness have something close to that. I am not directly involved in that kindness. Even so, on the point that I saw that kindness and was moved by it, I am certainly participating in that moment. The two people who exchanged kindness, and I, who saw it and teared up. The three of us, without even knowing each other's names, are connected for an instant in a circle of kindness. When I wrote about gratitude before, I noted that when people are bathed in good things, they turn to the side that spills them out. I, too, having been bathed in nameless kindness, have become a part of that circle.

There is one more reason, I think, why I teared up at the scene of the parent and child on the platform. The mother's words, "That hurt, didn't it? But you're trying so hard to stand up," were words that I, myself, probably wanted to hear. Even if I fall and get hurt, I am trying hard to stand up. I want someone to properly see that and acknowledge it. The words spoken to that little girl reached the little child deep inside my own heart. When we tear up at nameless scenes, we may often be seeing ourselves within those scenes.

5. Being a witness

Being a witness to such nameless, gentle scenes—I now think that in itself is actually a blessing.

If I had been in a hurry, feeling irritable, looking only at my smartphone, and walking with my head down, I would never have noticed that scene with the parent and child on the platform. I would have missed it and simply spent a hectic morning. But, as it happened, I was looking up that day. That is why I was able to encounter that gentle scene. When I wrote about enjoying things before, I talked about keeping your heart in the here and now. Whether or not you can become a witness to nameless kindness is the same. Only those who have their hearts in the here and now and are looking at their surroundings can notice such scenes.

That is why I want to keep my head up as much as I can. Even when I am in a hurry, I look around a little. When I do, I see so much nameless kindness being exchanged. Every time I notice it, my heart warms up a little and becomes a little kinder. And I hope that someday, I, too, can be on the gentle side of a scene that someone else witnesses. Just as I was warmed by what I witnessed, my own casual kindness might be warming someone else's heart somewhere. Nameless kindness spreads quietly through the world through its witnesses.

6 Conclusion—The world is made of kindness

I still think about that parent and child on the platform that morning from time to time. I don't even remember their faces clearly anymore. But those words, "That hurt, didn't it? But you're trying so hard to stand up," and the small figure of the girl who stood up on her own remain in me as a warm scene.

Up until now, I have written about many difficult things. Bad moods, impatience, people I dislike. The world is sometimes unreasonable and cold. That is also true. However, there is something just as certain. It is that the world is filled with small, nameless acts of kindness. At the station, in the city, on the train, in the park. In places where no one is watching, people are being kind to others. They speak to a child who has fallen, give up their seats, lend their umbrellas, and reach out a hand. Each one is a small scene that doesn't even make the news. But those countless small acts of kindness are what quietly support this world.

When I wrote about small happiness before, I noted that happiness is not something you find, but something you notice. Nameless kindness is the same. If you decide to notice it and look up, you will find it everywhere in your daily life. And when I notice it and suddenly feel like crying, I become a part of that circle of kindness. Just by witnessing it, I become warmer, and as I become warmer, I myself become a little kinder. That is how nameless kindness circulates from witness to witness.

Today, too, I might encounter a nameless, gentle scene somewhere. Even if I am in a hurry, I will try to keep my head up just a little. The gentle words spoken to a child who has fallen. The deep bow given for a seat that was offered. I am suddenly moved by such ordinary scenes. I want to cherish the warmth of those moments. The world is made of kindness. I hope I can live with eyes that can see that. Being a witness to nameless kindness. I think that is the quietest power for living in this slightly difficult world as a gentle place nonetheless.