9/11: International Nice Day - The Result

A few days ago I was pretty overwhelmed by the people who wanted to take the anniversary of 9/11 and make it into something negative. So called pastors wanted to burn the sacred scriptures of another religion, people wanted to organize a protest right at Ground Zero against the Islamic cultural center (which... the irony of that is mind boggling). It just made me sad. Twitter was trending a topic of "what I want", and all I could think of was, "I just want people to be NICE to each other."

The seed planted, I decided to twist the twisted "International Koran Burning Day" meme that Terry Jones was pushing back to something that was more decent, human and Christ like in nature. Thus "International Nice Day" was born.

Some didn't get it. They thought we should be nice everyday. And we *should*. But we're *not*. And even if we were, there's no real reason we can take one special day and make it *nicer* - especially on an anniversary of something so tragic. September 11, 2001 marked a day of some of the worst of human behavior.

The only way we can heal the wounds is to bring out the best.

After the idea took root I decided to go a little farther with it. I created a Facebook event to share with my friends, who are like minded people who are nice the majority of the time (or else they wouldn't be my friends). I sent out approximately 140 invitations and just hoped for the best.

I didn't really have any expectations of the day, to be quite honest. I just felt compelled to make it something more than a tweet or a blog. It was too important. It may sound silly or pollyanna-ish, but I just felt that being nice had been long forsaken in our national dialogue. We're too busy being hateful or snarky (myself included), too in love with the idea of being "right".

So yeah. We should be nice.

And then we should be nicer.

So I wrote my friend Hal Sparks, who for those of you who don't know is a comedian/actor/singer/commentator/activist. He has a weekly radio program on Chicago's Progressive Talk Radio, and his show just happened to fall on 9/11. I told him about IND and asked if I could call in and talk about it.

Hal, probably one of the nicest people I know, took the idea and ran with it. He introduced the concept very early on into the program, which turned it into running theme throughout the show. I did get to call in and talk to him about it about 50 minutes into the show, and I was overjoyed that he actually "got it".

I expected nothing less.



There were already 300 people who had joined the FB event page by the time this went to air.

Today we're almost at 400 attendees. Celebrities such as Hal, his Queer as Folk co-star Melanie Clunie and Sam Harris joined in, joining others who came from all over the world, putting religion and politics aside for the simple goal of just being nice.

A detractor called it a "non cause", that my energy would be better spent on a real cause.

I don't think there is any cause greater than being nice to your fellow man. Until you can find that kindness, no other causes can follow.

And anyone who participated in the day understands that when you walked outside with the conscious effort to be nicer to people, it was truly transformational.

You smiled a more easily, connected more genuinely, healed more thoroughly.

Yesterday MSNBC ran "As It Happened", minute by minute coverage from 9/11/2001 as it unfolded in real time nine years ago. After I overdosed on positive messages, quotes, music, interaction all day, I decided to spend some time in remembrance of the day. As I watched the footage, which - by the way - I don't usually because it has always hurt too much, it dawned on me the deep seated hurt that I had held in my heart over this tragic event had been finally released. By turning the anniversary into a day of action, I was able to be solemn and reverent - but I was no longer devastated.

It was a huge step in the right direction. It further demonstrated that Biblical scripture that said "love covers a multitude of sins".

Maybe that's why Jesus wanted us all to love one another, including our enemies.

He just wanted us to be nice.

By the end of the day I was exhausted but I was fulfilled in a way I had not expected. International Nice Day may have been created in the humble, hopeful intent to create a change in attitude that could change the world, but how it changed *me* was the real miracle.

I see things from a different perspective; a nicer perspective. I see the world not for what I hope it could be but what it is. It's a beautiful, beautiful place if you just know where to look.

Humans are kinder and good actually does outweigh evil. Change - and peace - is possible.

It all starts with one person.

And that one person was me.

So thank you all who participated with this, who shared themselves, who answered the call. You not only renewed my faith in humanity, but you taught me so much about who I thought I was and who I can be.

See you next year, when we do it all again.

(And for those who think we should be nice every day - keep the momentum going and just be "nicer". I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how your world can change.)