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This week Lucie does random acts of kindness for 5 days doing everything from cleaning the beach to surprising coworkers with treats.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00I'm Lucy Fink and this week is five days of random acts of kindness. Hey guys!
00:05Welcome back to Try Living with Lucy. Alright first and foremost you'll
00:07probably notice I'm not in my bedroom. My apartment building is currently
00:12undergoing construction and I went to make this webcam this morning and there
00:16were construction workers hanging from ropes outside my window. So I decided to
00:20move this webcam to Refinery29. I'm in our studio right now and I'm just gonna
00:25do it from here. On to the video. Most of my five-day challenges wind up being
00:28focused on me. For example, how does five days without coffee make me feel? How
00:33do I feel after five days of facing my fears? And even though I know that many
00:38of you guys wind up applying my lessons to your lives, I decided that this week's
00:42episode was gonna be about pulling me out of my little bubble and taking me away
00:47from the me and I and instead focusing on others. My goal this week is to do a
00:52series of small things for others expecting absolutely nothing in return.
00:56So when planning for this episode, I wanted to make sure that each of my five days was
01:00focused on not only spreading kindness in a different way but also to a
01:04different part of the world.
01:07On Monday I started locally by asking myself who's one person in my life that I see every
01:13single day and what is one tiny thing that I can do for them to make their day
01:17just a little bit better? And this question led me straight to Tony.
01:21Good morning, Lobby. Tony speaking. Tony works in the lobby of Refinery29's office building and he is the
01:27world's best building facilitator. He knows everybody's name and no matter what day of the week
01:32it is, what the weather looks like outside, or what is going on in the world, he will
01:36greet you with a smile. How was your weekend? Very nice, yours? Great. Kind of quick but we make the
01:42best of it, right?
01:42Isn't it always like that? Yeah. You know what I meant to ask you? Yeah. Do you know everybody's name
01:47in the whole building?
01:48I would say like 99%. I'm not gonna say 100%. You do it. I'm good with names.
01:54What's up Fred? Morning, how are you? Good morning, how are you? Good, and you? See, you know everyone.
02:00Yeah, that's Shahan the painter. When I'm running out to get lunch and Tony has to stay stationed at his
02:05position in the lobby,
02:06how easy is it for me to just grab him lunch? Thankfully from chatting with Tony in the past,
02:11I was already well acquainted with his favorite type of food. So when I was out on my lunch break,
02:15I went to his favorite spot and I got him a Greek salad, a drink, and a little surprise for
02:20dessert.
02:21Wow. And, I hope you like it, baklava. I love it. This is my treat for later.
02:27I could see how grateful he was just from the smile he gave me and it made me realize that
02:31this tiny action of mine,
02:32something that honestly did not take that much time out of my day, was able to make someone else's day
02:38so much brighter.
02:43On Monday, my random act of kindness involved spending a little bit of money on someone else to make their
02:48life easier.
02:49And that's a very simple thing that you can do for someone in a number of ways.
02:52But something that's important to keep in mind is that not everyone has the means of spreading kindness by purchasing
02:57things.
02:58And that's totally okay because most acts of kindness don't require you to spend a single cent.
03:03When you think about doing random acts of kindness, I bet your head naturally gravitates towards doing kind things for
03:08other people, right?
03:09But don't forget that you can also do kind things for your planet and for the creatures that live on
03:14it.
03:14Tuesday was fully focused on doing a random act of kindness for the world and the environment.
03:19I woke up bright and early, I rode the subway down to Coney Island,
03:22and I spent a few hours picking up trash on the boardwalk and the beach.
03:25I put on a pair of those disposable gloves and I brought one of those garbage grabbers.
03:30And I just started collecting garbage that I found on the ground.
03:33A Refinery29 article that I found cites that 80% of marine pollution comes from land-based activities.
03:39And plastic trash often finds its way back into the ocean.
03:42This is not only damaging for the environment, but it's also incredibly harmful for animals that either wind up eating
03:48this trash,
03:49or worse, getting tangled up in plastic debris and dying because of it.
03:54Hostess.
03:56One great way to help out this situation and to do a little act of kindness every day is switch
04:01out all plastic straws
04:03and instead either use paper straws, reusable straws, or just no straws at all.
04:07You can also go entirely zero waste like I did in a previous five-day challenge.
04:11But if you don't want to do that, then picking up garbage whenever you see it is a great way
04:15to help too.
04:16Bottle caps, cups, cans, plastic wrappers, straws.
04:20I even found a sock and some boxers, which I set aside separately for clothing recycling.
04:26It's actually somebody's bathing suit.
04:30Somebody is skinny dipping right now and I just stole their suit.
04:34This was one of the most fulfilling mornings that I've had in a while.
04:37Basically, my cameraman Andrew and I got to go to one of the coolest areas of the city,
04:42spend a little bit of time hanging out on the beach and doing something good for our planet and for
04:46the animals.
04:47And then when we were done working, we got to ride on the Coney Island Cyclone.
04:53This day was so great that I'm challenging you guys to do this exact same thing.
04:57Pick any weekend morning, get together with some friends, go to a local beach or a park and pick up
05:02trash together,
05:03and then just spend the rest of the day hanging out and relaxing.
05:08I think that one of the nicest things a person can do is bring a smile to a stranger's face.
05:13I'm so grateful to have this job because it connects me to all of you out there.
05:16People from all over the world that I talk to pretty much every single day online.
05:20But I've noticed recently that sometimes talking to people online and connecting via the internet
05:25can feel a little bit superficial and not really all that special.
05:29So on Wednesday, I asked myself, how can I thank some of my fans?
05:33These people from all over the world that watch all of my videos and leave me nice comments on Instagram
05:38all the time.
05:39How can I thank them in a way that's a little bit more personal than just sending them a DM
05:43on Instagram or writing them an email?
05:45So I made a post on my Instagram asking my followers that wanted to receive a personalized postcard from me
05:51to send me a private message with their addresses.
05:53And I received addresses from over 1500 people from every corner of this planet.
06:00I went out and I got tons of New York City themed postcards and I just started writing.
06:05I truly, truly, truly wanted to send a postcard to everybody, but that just wasn't feasible.
06:10I had to narrow it down a little bit.
06:12So I went through and I selected people that lived in very diverse areas of the world.
06:16I have a list here of some of the places where these postcards went and I'm just going to read
06:19you a few.
06:20Australia, Slovakia, Germany, Barcelona, Peru, Paris, Rome, India, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Egypt, Dublin, Indonesia, Viena, and so much more.
06:30Hi Lucy, thank you so much for the postcard and the stickers.
06:34I'm so happy, so so happy right now.
06:36Thank you so much Lucy, you're the best.
06:39Many of these people have been supporting me on my career journey for over three years,
06:43so sending them a postcard is the least I can do.
06:49Thursday was all about doing something sweet for my work community.
06:53I've been working at Refinery29 for almost three years now and it really is amazing how your coworkers start to
06:59feel like family here.
07:00Depending on what type of job you have and what kind of office environment you work in,
07:04you could potentially be spending more time at work than you are at home.
07:08So having colleagues around you that respect one another and that feel like friends is truly invaluable.
07:13At R29, we're on a mission to help women around the world feel, see, and claim their power.
07:18And working daily towards such a powerful goal really does bring us together.
07:22As a token of my gratitude and just to tell my coworkers how much I love them,
07:26I decided to bring them a little sweet treat on Thursday.
07:29I first considered just buying pizza and setting it out for everyone,
07:32but then I asked myself what's one step of kindness above buying something?
07:36And of course the answer is making something.
07:39I went to Doe, my favorite donut shop in New York City,
07:42and I went behind the scenes to their open kitchen to make some fresh donuts for my team.
07:47I went through the entire donut making process.
07:49First, flattening the dough, which by the way is made with a secret formula that they did not share with
07:54me.
07:54Next, hand cutting the donuts into circles and punching out the donut holes.
07:58And then after a two-step proofing process, frying the donuts gently to perfection,
08:03hand dipping them into various flavors, and adding toppings.
08:06As I was in there, I realized, wow, I'm here shooting an episode of Try Living with Lucy,
08:10but this is so meant to be a Lucy for Hire as a donut maker.
08:14I made 18 giant donuts, and I mean giant, like the size of my face.
08:19I brought them back to Refinery29 and I sent out a mass email to the video department.
08:23Seeing everyone flood over for an afternoon snack with giant smiles on their face was exactly what I was hoping
08:30to see.
08:30Hibiscus, blood orange, lemon powder.
08:34And speaking of community, especially when it comes to food,
08:37there are so many ways that you can help out people who are actually in need of food.
08:42For this entire week, I've been taking leftovers and extra food to go every single time I eat out,
08:47and I've been giving it to the homeless and to hungry people on the streets and in the subways.
08:51And I actually didn't film any of these moments because I really didn't want to exploit the homeless people by
08:56putting them in this video.
08:57But it's the action that counts.
08:58So when it comes to doing random acts of kindness, it's not about sharing that you're doing it with others.
09:03It's just about doing it.
09:06According to an R29 article, being nice actually comes along with some health benefits.
09:11You'll feel happier, your heart will be healthier, you might even be less stressed in your daily life.
09:16For my final day of this challenge, I asked myself,
09:18what's one part of the world that needs the most kindness right now?
09:22And the answer was simple.
09:23You're looking at it.
09:25The internet.
09:25I love the internet and particularly YouTube for so many reasons.
09:29It's honestly how I built my career and how I've been able to connect with so many people from around
09:34the globe.
09:34But the internet can also be filled with a lot of darkness.
09:38When many people go to post online, they feel very empowered because they're hidden behind a computer screen.
09:43So they're not afraid to write nasty or negative things that they most likely wouldn't say to a person's face.
09:48I truly think that everyone that's building a YouTube audience should be applauded for being unafraid to put themselves out
09:54there
09:55because it's really not an easy thing to do.
09:56What's up? Welcome back to my channel. If you've never been to this channel before, my name is Julia.
10:01I found some up-and-coming YouTubers actually by looking through the Refinery29 comment section.
10:06I love creating videos.
10:07I watched some of the videos that they've worked so hard on.
10:10And Friday's random act of kindness was all about sprinkling a little bit of love on some of these channels.
10:17There's so much power in positivity and sometimes just receiving one positive comment can push someone who is about to
10:24stop
10:24to keep moving and to keep creating.
10:27So now I encourage all of you to try five days of random acts of kindness.
10:31Write them down in your bullet journal, write them on an Instagram post and tag me in it,
10:35or just do it and don't write it anywhere and don't tell anyone.
10:38There are millions of ways that you can try this challenge for yourself and spread some kindness even without spending
10:43any money.
10:44Everything from giving out a compliment, to babysitting for a friend for free,
10:48to leaving encouraging notes in random places on public transportation.
10:51When it comes to random acts of kindness, there is no right and wrong,
10:54and there is certainly no act that's too small.
10:57Bye!