The Radical Work of Being Kind
- Maria Laquerre-Diego
- Feb 17
- 3 min read
Random Acts of Kindness Day always makes me chuckle a little because therapists already run on kindness the way Paddington runs on marmalade. But maybe that’s the point: kindness can become expected, invisible labor. Even devalued.
But what if holding our kindness close, honoring it, and sharing it is actually the most powerful form of rebellion we have?
In a world shaped by burnout, urgency, and systems that prize efficiency over humanity, gentleness becomes counter-culture. Kindness becomes resistance. Not grand, sweeping gestures—just the steady, soft-power kind that therapists practice every day in the room without even realizing it.
And once again, popular culture has been showing us the path all along.
Soft-Power Icons: What Pop Culture Has Been Teaching Us About Kindness
If you look closely, some of the most beloved characters in pop culture aren’t powerful because they’re loud, forceful, or intimidating. They’re powerful because their gentleness rearranges the room. They model the kind of steady, emotionally attuned presence that therapists embody every day—often without ever naming it as skill.
Paddington teaches us that kindness is not naïveté but a deliberate stance. His politeness is a posture of courage; his gentleness moves entire communities.
Ted Lasso shows us how relational warmth can be leadership. Emotional attunement becomes culture-shaping, team-building magic.
Marmee March (from Little Women) embodies the quiet, durable kindness that anchors people through grief, fear, and transition.
Steven Universe invites us into emotional fluency, restorative justice, and the radical act of believing people can change.
Totoro reminds us that comfort and kindness can be wordless; just presence, softness, and steady company in the dark.
And Bluey’s entire family system gives us a blueprint for co-regulation, playful repair, and sharing emotional responsibility.
These characters, across genres and generations, show us that gentleness is not the absence of strength. It is strength—just the kind that moves differently.
Kindness as Counter-Culture
The more we look, the clearer it becomes that kindness isn’t passive. It’s radical work.
It’s choosing curiosity where defensiveness would be easier. It’s choosing repair where rupture would be faster. It’s holding the door open to humanity in a world that keeps trying to slam it shut.
This is soft-power. Quiet defiance. A micro-rebellion that says: “You don’t have to earn your place here.”
Paddington shows us the stance. Ahsoka shows us the discipline. Steven shows us the emotional language. Bluey shows us the co-regulation.
Together, they give us a toolkit for the kind of therapeutic presence that resists dehumanization—not with force, but with warmth.
Reflecting on our Kindness as Therapists
As you move through your clinical spaces this season, consider:
What does a kind session look like without self-sacrifice?
Where is softness a boundary?
How does your gentleness quietly resist the systems that tell us to rush, harden, or disconnect?
A Random Act of Kindness for a Therapist You Value
Therapists often offer kindness so steadily that it becomes invisible—even to themselves.
So we made something small and playful to honour that.
✨ The Kindness Plushie Generator ✨
An AI tool where you can quickly design a virtual pop-culture-infused plushie, complete with a glowing tummy message, and send it to a therapist friend or colleague who deserves a warm fuzzy feeling today.
Honestly? It’s exactly the kind of kindness Paddington would approve of.
Go ahead—make one for someone who holds space quietly (or fiercely!), every day.
A self-proclaimed geek, Maria Laquerre Diego, LMFT, RPT-S, is an internationally recognized expert and leading voice in integrating play and pop culture into clinical practice, to make therapy more culturally-responsive and enhance connection in the therapy room. As the founder and President of A New Hope Academy, a nonprofit dedicated to providing innovative professional development for mental health providers, Maria has developed groundbreaking workshops and conferences including the Geek Play Therapy Summit and the Play Therapy: Disney Bound Conference, which draw clinicians from across the country and beyond.
A published author and sought-after speaker, Maria’s innovative work invites clinicians to embrace playfulness, fandom, and the Force as tools for healing. She is author of the book chapters published in 2025, “Embracing Geek Play Therapy: A Creative Approach for LGBTQIA+ Individuals” and “Are Villains Even Villains”. When she’s not teaching or traveling for trainings, Maria can be found spending time with her family, building cosplay armor, or talking about why Star Wars belongs in every clinical supervision meeting.
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