Nice.
An unlikely superpower
At times, why might you want to be more Clark Kent than Superman?
People are suspicious of niceness. Isn’t it a front, a mask for your real feelings? Worst of all it’s inauthentic. A painted smile. Well, maybe it’s all those things, but that’s what makes it’s valuable.
100% authenticity is not feasible and will look indistinguishable to the behaviour of a toddler.
Nice is consideration of others and their feelings. It’s warmth. It’s connection. It should be treasured but is often slagged off because it lacks edge, angst and danger. To offset that, here’s a celebration of nice.
Super(nice)heroes
Michael Palin. French and Saunders. David Attenborough. Danny Baker. Travis. Michael Rosen. Floella Benjamin. Robin Ince. My Neighbor Totoro. Adam Buxton. The people of Glasgow. Tony Hart. Liza Tarbuck. Armando Iannucci. Greyhounds. Sarah Silverman. Daisies. Tom Hanks.
All that said, I don’t agree with the instruction ‘Be nice’ especially when it comes from a position of power. In that context, it’s about shutting down or patronising views that need to be expressed. It’s the kind of thing Trump would say and it makes me want to puke.
Perhaps the closest niceness has come to being a creed is Quakerism. A pacifist religion that has never engaged or advocated for war (that I know of). A Quaker meeting consists of people sharing space and silence — a wonderfully generous and open way to commune together.
The quiet consideration of others is powerful. It moves people because its openness is an invitation to engage. It’s saying, ‘I see you’ and ‘I want to hear what you have to say’. It’s a quiet way to be active and present in the world that can be mistaken for passivity but isn’t.
