Reflections & Complete Listing–A to Z Blog Challenge

We were pleased to participate in the A to Z Blog Challenge (http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/).  The Story Crossroads theme for this year was Kindness Across  Cultures: Stories to Prove We Care.  Below is the complete A to Z listing.

So now to reflect…

I have enjoyed each of the four years that we have participated in the A to Z Blog Challenge.  There were plenty of struggles and always a few posts that barely make it before midnight.  Yet, being able to not only post that many times AND on a topic of kindness…it was awe-inspiring.

Awe-inspiring to be affirmed that the world is full of kindness.

Awe-inspiring to be affirmed that all cultures reflect kindness in their traditional stories.

Awe-inspiring to learn about countries and cultures that I had never heard of before and now I feel connected like I never did before.

Each of the six major continents were represented.  Several different faiths were showcased including my own, which was nerve-striking yet satisfying.  I purposely chose some war-torn countries.  Those stories from those places was the most powerful to me of all for I know that most people are amazing and thoughtful.  Sometimes kindnesses are small and simple and sometimes kindnesses encompass ultimate sacrifices of time, money, and life.  The Ethiopian story touches on a kindness not often celebrated–of showing kindness to enemies, those who would use and abuse you.

I did find it amusing at how much easier it was to find kindness stories in some cultures as it was for others.  It was a little harder to find kindness stories in Caucasian-dominant cultures. Some stories had great potential and then turned bad, and I mean extremely bad.  I noticed that a lot of Latin American stories had this overall feeling that good eventually gets punished.  I found wonderful Latin American one from Peru.

For the first time since the other challenges, I had several posts “scheduled” for 7:00am MST.  It was a relief to know that those posts would easily make the deadlines.  Perhaps for 2019, I will “schedule” more of them in advance and my challenge will really be March instead of April…though time will only tell.

In the meantime, enjoy this complete listing from this A to Z Blog Challenge.

By the way, thanks to your kindness in reading (and commenting).

Complete Listing – Kindness Across Cultures – Stories to Prove We Care

A = Afghanistan Affection & Altruism (Hired Hands)

B = Buddhist Benevolence & Big-Heartedness (Monkey King’s Bridge)

C = Chinese Charitableness & Care (The Girl and the Waterfall)

D= Damascus Devotion & Delight (The Power of Song, Syria)

E= Ethiopian Equanimity & Endurance (Shield of Kindness)

F= Filipino Fidelity & Forgiveness (Bridge of Flowers)

G= German Generosity & Goodness, (Grimms’ Golden Goose)

H= Hindu Harmoniousness & Humility (The Ideal Son, Sukrama)

I= Irish Intuition & Interconnectedness (Jack and His Companions)

J= Jewish Joy & Judiciousness (The Secret of the Innkeeper’s Blessings)

K= Kenyan Kindness & Keenness (How the Ostrich got its Long Neck)

L= LDS Love & Loyalty (10,000 Stripling Warriors)

M= Mosul Magnanimity & Mercy (Sparrow’s Wife, Iraqi tale)

N= Navajo Nobleness & Neighborliness (Little Dawn Boy and the Rainbow Trail)

O= Orkney Open-handedness & Oneness (Kate Crackernuts, Scottish)

P= Peru Peacefulness & Patience (Legend of Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo)

Q= Qatari Quality & Quick-Wittiness (Qatari Fsaijrah and the Magic fish)

R= Russian Respectfulness & Resilience (Vasilissa the Fair)

S= Swazi Sweetness & Sacrifice (The Collared Crow)

T= Torres Strait Thoughtfulness & Tenderness (Bia)

U= Ukraine Understanding & Unselfishness (The Birds’ Gift)

V= Vietnam Valance & Valor (The Legend of the Mia Flower)

W= Winnebago Warm-heartedness & Wholesomeness (The Orphan Who Was Blessed with a Horse)

X= Xhosa Xenial & Xenodochial (The Hare and the Tree Spirit, South Africa)

Y= Yonder Yukon Yoke-fellowship & Yarn-listening (The Orphan and the Polar Bear, Inuit)

Z= Zimbabwe Zeroth & Zenith (Children of Wax)

While you enjoy this blog, Story Crossroads has year-round offerings including the culminating Festival on May 23, 2018 with free performances May 21-24, 2018 (see schedule here: https://storycrossroads.com/2018-schedule/).  

We thank our funders such as the National Endowment for the Arts, the Utah Division of Arts and Museums, the Western States Arts Federation, Utah Humanities, the City of Murray, the South Jordan Arts Council, Utah Valley University and many other individuals. Join us in the support by attending or donating or both! (Click here to donate or get tickets.)