Reflection on Kindness and Character Development by Judy L. Murray

With August quickly approaching and summertime being a favorite for most everyone, I decided to make a couple of reflections. They may even encourage your character writing progress while reducing a bit of stress.

As writers we tend to be very aware of our surroundings and the people we come across, either friends or strangers. Today, I’m focusing on instances that remind me this world is full of kindness.

*My husband and I belong to a local yacht club of about three hundred members. It’s been on the northern Chesapeake Bay for over a hundred years. It isn’t glitzy. It depends upon volunteers to keep the shrubs clipped, the docks power washed, the moorings dropped and pulled. We live about ten minutes away. Others live out of the area. Some within walking distance. If we have a big storm threatening the coastline I’ll ask my husband if we should drive to the club to check our boat’s lines in order to weather the sea changes. “No need,” John says. “There’s always someone walking up and down the docks and checking their neighbors’ lines.”

*Our neighborhood is uniquely surrounded by Elk Neck State Park, Maryland. Each time a neighbor is faced with a challenging illness or the loss of a loved one an email message is sent out to everyone. We call it the Extend-A-Hand program. A struggling neighbor can count on cards, phone calls, and dropped off meals. They know they’ve not been forgotten.

*It is 90 degrees and the woman in front of me is driving past the entrance of a grocery store. Two raggedy men are sitting under an overhang on a nearby sidewalk. The woman stops then parks in the fire lane. She jumps out, hands each of them a bottle of water, then jumps into her car and pulls away.

*I am antilitter obsessed. It’s just one of my ‘things’. It’s my habit to keep kitchen bags and rubber gloves in the rear seat pockets so I can pull over and pick up litter when I spot it on a town roadway or anywhere I’m traveling. As I sit at a red light approaching an intersection far from my home, I watch two men picking up litter along the shoulder. I can’t help but smile. I’m not alone in my efforts. I give them a thumbs up.

Can you tell me a story in ‘Comments’ of a recent kindness you witnessed? Or is there a scene in one of your stories that demonstrates a character’s kindness and helps strengthen the depiction of their personality?

Happy summer!

Judy L. Murray, author of the award-winning Chesapeake Bay Mystery Series

P.S. If you are seeking a mystery with a summer setting my Peril in the Pool House might be perfect for you! “Be prepared for a long night. You won’t be able to put it down!” – a reader