The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention | Roberta Attard

Dr Roberta Attard, Counselling

Our Faculty’s 10th anniversary, a celebration of its history, affords a brief amble down the pathways of time, to consider perhaps, the lessons afforded by experience.

In this respect, I would like to share some thoughts from writer, academic and helping practitioner, Frantz Fanon’s Black Skins, White Masks (1952):

“Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted… And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn't fit in with the core belief.”

History is strewn with examples of such beliefs, of which some have changed the face of entire populations such as the slavery of black persons, the inhumane treatment and disenfranchisement of Native American Indians and Indigenous Australians, the killing of six million European Jews and five million prisoners of war, including Romany, persons with disability and gay and lesbian persons, and as I write this piece the invasion of Ukraine. The list is lengthy and reads like a walk of shame for humanity.

We perceive others through our own personal lens, coloured and distorted by our needs, experiences and desires, and this perception can give rise to misperception which, in turn, can be a catalyst for conflict and strife. If we allow our actions to follow our perceptions, with little or no reflexive thought, we react in ways confluent with these phantom perceptions.

As students, academics, researchers, professional helpers and staff within the Faculty for Social Wellbeing, we are compelled to make our voice heard where there is injustice and strife, and sow the seeds of understanding, equity and compassion.

Oscar Wilde once remarked that “The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention”. May these acts be the hallmark of our history.