Origins
I dreamed of starting Tiny Kindness years ago after my then 10-year-old niece did two very small, sweet things for me. The first was that on a big milestone day, she spied me crying and gave me the warmest hug and told me she loved me, then secretly made my bed and lined up all of mine and my children's shoes. The second was that on a day my throat started hurting, she made me tea with lemon and honey. The trick was that she had never made tea before, and cut the little packet open and dumped the herbs straight in. It was so sweet of her for trying, that I didn't even mind. A friend heard the second story and said it was so sweet, he would being willing to read a book with just that in it. It made me realize, I would be, too.
I finally started collecting stories November 15, 2019 the week marking the one year anniversary of my oldest brother's burial from an overdose. I had found out about his passing 9 days after moving to China from the United States. I was still living far from home and needed to find a new way to carry my grief that would let me survive it. Very consciously and purposefully looking for goodness and kindness in the world was my try. I'm grateful to everyone who has helped me. xo, Rachel
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Founder and Curator Rachel Hunt Steenblik is a mama, poet, editor, and philosophy professor. She grew up in Oregon but has lived in many US states, Vienna, Austria, and now: Wenzhou, China. Much of her work is focused on women's stories and voices and includes motherhood. She co-edited Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings with Oxford University Press and wrote Mother’s Milk: Poems in Search of Heavenly Mother and I Gave Her a Name with By Common Consent Press. Her first collection won the 2017 award for poetry from the Association for Mormon Letters. |
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Illustrator Michelle Christensen is an international illustrator and designer. She grew up in Asia as the daughter of a diplomat. She has done work for companies like Anthropologie, Terrain, Hallmark, and Forbes. She has been featured in Nylon Magazine, Frankie Magazine, Country Living, and Glamour. She is the creator of the brand My Little Belleville, and currently sells her products worldwide. Michelle is also the author and illustrator of several children's books. She illustrated Yoko Ono in Good-Night Stories for Rebel Girls, and wrote and illustrated The Plum Tree Monster and Emperor's New Bicycle. She also illustrated This is Love, and Love is Like. @mylittlebelleville https://www.michellechristensen.co/ |
Please contact us at:
Stories@TinyKindness.org
or by calling 801.691.8630