- 1 week ago
On this episode of Try Living With Lucie, our host, Lucie Fink takes on 5 days of random acts of kindness. From giving back to the environment to thanking her co-workers, she tries to incorporate acts of kindness into her routine without expecting anything in return. Watch this week's Try Living With Lucie for some random acts of kindness inspiration!
ABOUT SERIES
Try Living With Lucie follows our favorite R29 millennial, Lucie Fink, as she dives headfirst into social experiments — five days at a time. From a week without sugar to full-blown street performing; there is nothing she won't try!
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TALENT
Follow Lucie Fink on Instagram: https://instagram.com/luciebfink/
ABOUT SERIES
Try Living With Lucie follows our favorite R29 millennial, Lucie Fink, as she dives headfirst into social experiments — five days at a time. From a week without sugar to full-blown street performing; there is nothing she won't try!
ABOUT REFINERY29
Refinery29 is a modern woman's destination for how to live a stylish, well-rounded life. http://refinery29.com/
RELATED CONTENT
5 Days Of Cold Showers
https://youtube.com/watch?v=j0KGe3_eFdE
5 Days Of Eating Only Pizza
https://youtube.com/watch?v=mnrQkORcivA
5 Days Of A Capsule Wardrobe
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Di9Bjf_OPj4
SEE MORE REFINERY29 VIDEOS
http://refinery29.com/video
SUBSCRIBE TO REFINERY29
Subscribe to the Refinery29 channel: http://bit.ly/subscribe-to-r29
For the latest trends and videos, visit: http://refinery29.com
Like Refinery29 on Facebook: https://facebook.com/refinery29
Follow Refinery29 on Twitter: https://twitter.com/refinery29
Heart Refinery29 on Instagram: https://instagram.com/refinery29/
TALENT
Follow Lucie Fink on Instagram: https://instagram.com/luciebfink/
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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. If you're new to our YouTube channel, click
00:08on the little subscribe box right here. Some quick real talk. I learned that 80
00:12percent of the people that watch these videos are not yet subscribed. Don't you
00:17want to be part of the squad? It's very easy. If you already have a Gmail account,
00:21you already have a YouTube account too. And subscribing is so easy. Just put your
00:25mouse right here where my finger is and now follow my finger and tap gently in
00:32the corner. Yes! Alright, first and foremost, you'll probably notice I'm not in my
00:36bedroom. My apartment building is currently undergoing construction and I went to
00:41make this webcam this morning and there were construction workers hanging from
00:45ropes outside my window. So I decided to move this webcam to Refinery29. I'm in our
00:50studio right now and I'm just gonna do it from here. On to the video. Most of my
00:54five-day challenges wind up being focused on me. For example, how does five days
00:59without coffee make me feel? How do I feel after five days of facing my fears?
01:04And even though I know that many of you guys wind up applying my lessons to your
01:08lives, I decided that this week's episode was gonna be about pulling me out of my
01:13little bubble and taking me away from the me and I and instead focusing on
01:17others. My goal this week is to do a series of small things for others expecting
01:21absolutely nothing in return. So when planning for this episode, I wanted to
01:25make sure that each of my five days was focused on not only spreading kindness
01:29in a different way, but also to a different part of the world.
01:34On Monday, I started locally by asking myself, who's one person in my life that I
01:39see every single day? And what is one tiny thing that I can do for them to make
01:44their day just a little bit better? And this question led me straight to Tony.
01:48Good morning, Lobby. Tony speaking. Tony works in the lobby of Refinery29's
01:52office building and he is the world's best building facilitator. He knows
01:57everybody's name and no matter what day of the week it is, what the weather looks
02:01like outside, or what is going on in the world, he will greet you with a smile.
02:05How was your weekend? Very nice, yours. Great.
02:07Kind of quick, but we make the best of it, right? Isn't it always like that? Yeah.
02:11You know what I meant to ask you? Yeah. Do you know everybody's name in the whole building?
02:15I would say like 99%. I'm not going to say 100%. I'm good with names.
02:21What's up, Fred? Morning, how are you? Good morning, how are you? Good, and you?
02:26See, you know everyone. Yeah, that's Shahan the painter.
02:29When I'm running out to get lunch and Tony has to stay stationed at his position in the lobby,
02:34how easy is it for me to just grab him lunch? Thankfully, from chatting with Tony in the
02:38past, I was already well acquainted with his favorite type of food. So when I was out on
02:42my lunch break, I went to his favorite spot, and I got him a Greek salad, a drink, and a
02:46little surprise for dessert. And, I hope you like it, baklava. I love it. This is my treat
02:54for later. I could see how grateful he was just from the smile he gave me, and it made me
02:58realize that this tiny action of mine, something that honestly did not take that much time out
03:03of my day, was able to make someone else's day so much brighter.
03:10On Monday, my random act of kindness involved spending a little bit of money on someone else
03:15to make their life easier. And that's a very simple thing that you can do for someone in
03:18a number of ways. But something that's important to keep in mind is that not everyone has the
03:22means of spreading kindness by purchasing things. And that's totally okay, because most
03:27acts of kindness don't require you to spend a single cent. When you think about doing random
03:31acts of kindness, I bet your head naturally gravitates towards doing kind things for other
03:36people, right? But don't forget that you can also do kind things for your planet and for
03:40the creatures that live on it. Tuesday was fully focused on doing a random act of kindness
03:44for the world and the environment. I woke up bright and early, I rode the subway down to
03:49Coney Island, and I spent a few hours picking up trash on the boardwalk and the beach. I put
03:53on a pair of those disposable gloves, and I brought one of those garbage grabbers, and I just
03:58started collecting garbage that I found on the ground. A Refinery29 article that I found
04:02cites that 80% of marine pollution comes from land-based activities. And plastic trash
04:07often finds its way back into the ocean. This is not only damaging for the environment, but
04:12it's also incredibly harmful for animals that either wind up eating this trash, or worse,
04:17getting tangled up in plastic debris and dying because of it. Hostess.
04:24One great way to help out this situation and to do a little act of kindness every day is
04:28switch out all plastic straws and instead either use paper straws, reusable straws, or
04:33just no straws at all. You can also go entirely zero waste like I did in a previous five-day
04:38challenge. But if you don't want to do that, then picking up garbage whenever you see it
04:42is a great way to help too. Bottle caps, cups, cans, plastic wrappers, straws. I even found
04:48a sock and some boxers, which I set aside separately for clothing recycling.
04:54It's actually somebody's bathing suit.
04:58Somebody is skinny dipping right now and I just stole their suit.
05:02This was one of the most fulfilling mornings that I've had in a while. Basically, my cameraman,
05:06Andrew, and I got to go to one of the coolest areas of the city, spend a little bit of
05:10time
05:10hanging out on the beach and doing something good for our planet and for the animals. And then,
05:14when we were done working, we got to ride on the Coney Island Cyclone.
05:20This day was so great that I'm challenging you guys to do this exact same thing. Pick any
05:25weekend morning, get together with some friends, go to a local beach or a park and pick up trash
05:30together and then just spend the rest of the day hanging out and relaxing.
05:35I think that one of the nicest things a person can do is bring a smile to a stranger's face.
05:40I'm so grateful to have this job because it connects me to all of you out there.
05:44People from all over the world that I talk to pretty much every single day online.
05:48But I've noticed recently that sometimes talking to people online and connecting via the internet
05:52can feel a little bit superficial and not really all that special.
05:56So on Wednesday, I asked myself, how can I thank some of my fans?
06:00These people from all over the world that watch all of my videos and leave me nice comments on Instagram
06:05all the time.
06:06How can I thank them in a way that's a little bit more personal than just sending them a DM
06:11on Instagram or writing them an email?
06:13So I made a post on my Instagram asking my followers that wanted to receive a personalized postcard from me
06:18to send me a private message with their addresses.
06:20And I received addresses from over 1500 people from every corner of this planet.
06:27I went out and I got tons of New York City themed postcards and I just started writing.
06:32I truly, truly, truly wanted to send a postcard to everybody, but that just wasn't feasible.
06:37I had to narrow it down a little bit.
06:39So I went through and I selected people that lived in very diverse areas of the world.
06:43I have a list here of some of the places where these postcards went and I'm just going to read
06:47you a few.
06:47Australia, Slovakia, Germany, Barcelona, Paris, Rome, India, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Egypt, Dublin, Indonesia, Viena, and so much more.
06:58Hi Lucy, thank you so much for the postcard and the stickers.
07:01I'm so happy, so so happy right now.
07:04Thank you so much Lucy, you're the best.
07:06Many of these people have been supporting me on my career journey for over three years,
07:10so sending them a postcard is the least I can do.
07:16Thursday was all about doing something sweet for my work community.
07:20I've been working at Refinery29 for almost three years now,
07:23and it really is amazing how your coworkers start to feel like family here.
07:27Depending on what type of job you have and what kind of office environment you work in,
07:31you could potentially be spending more time at work than you are at home.
07:35So having colleagues around you that respect one another and that feel like friends is truly invaluable.
07:40At R29, we're on a mission to help women around the world feel, see, and claim their power.
07:46And working daily towards such a powerful goal really does bring us together.
07:50As a token of my gratitude and just to tell my coworkers how much I love them,
07:54I decided to bring them a little sweet treat on Thursday.
07:56I first considered just buying pizza and setting it out for everyone,
07:59but then I asked myself, what's one step of kindness above buying something?
08:04And of course, the answer is making something.
08:06I went to Doe, my favorite donut shop in New York City,
08:09and I went behind the scenes to their open kitchen to make some fresh donuts for my team.
08:14I went through the entire donut making process.
08:17First, flattening the dough, which by the way is made with a secret formula that they did not share with
08:21me.
08:22Next, hand cutting the donuts into circles and punching out the donut holes.
08:25And then after a two-step proofing process, frying the donuts gently to perfection,
08:30hand dipping them into various flavors, and adding toppings.
08:33As I was in there, I realized, wow, I'm here shooting an episode of Try Living with Lucy,
08:37but this is so meant to be a Lucy for Hire as a donut maker.
08:42So comment below if you want to see that Lucy for Hire episode.
08:44I made 18 giant donuts, and I mean giant, like the size of my face.
08:49I brought them back to Refinery29, and I sent out a mass email to the video department.
08:53Seeing everyone flood over for an afternoon snack with giant smiles on their face
08:57was exactly what I was hoping to see.
09:00Hibiscus, blood orange, lemon powder.
09:04And speaking of community, especially when it comes to food,
09:07there are so many ways that you can help out people who are actually in need of food.
09:11For this entire week, I've been taking leftovers and extra food to go every single time I eat out,
09:16and I've been giving it to the homeless and to hungry people on the streets and in the subways.
09:21And I actually didn't film any of these moments because I really didn't want to exploit the homeless people by
09:26putting them in this video.
09:27But it's the action that counts.
09:28So when it comes to doing random acts of kindness, it's not about sharing that you're doing it with others.
09:33It's just about doing it.
09:36According to an R29 article, being nice actually comes along with some health benefits.
09:41You'll feel happier, your heart will be healthier, you might even be less stressed in your daily life.
09:46For my final day of this challenge, I asked myself,
09:48what's one part of the world that needs the most kindness right now?
09:52And the answer was simple.
09:53You're looking at it.
09:55The internet.
09:55I love the internet and particularly YouTube for so many reasons.
09:59It's honestly how I built my career and how I've been able to connect with so many people from around
10:04the globe.
10:04But the internet can also be filled with a lot of darkness.
10:08When many people go to post online, they feel very empowered because they're hidden behind a computer screen.
10:12So they're not afraid to write nasty or negative things that they most likely wouldn't say to a person's face.
10:18I truly think that everyone that's building a YouTube audience should be applauded for being unafraid to put themselves out
10:24there.
10:25Because it's really not an easy thing to do.
10:27What's up? Welcome back to my channel.
10:28If you've never been to this channel before, my name is Julia.
10:31I found some up and coming YouTubers actually by looking through the Refinery29 comment section.
10:36I love creating videos.
10:37I watched some of the videos that they've worked so hard on.
10:40And Friday's random act of kindness was all about sprinkling a little bit of love on some of these channels.
10:47There's so much power in positivity and sometimes just receiving one positive comment can push someone who was about to
10:54stop to keep moving and to keep creating.
10:56So now I encourage all of you to try five days of random acts of kindness.
11:01Write them down in your bullet journal.
11:03Write them on an Instagram post and tag me in it.
11:05Or just do it and don't write it anywhere and don't tell anyone.
11:08There are millions of ways that you can try this challenge for yourself and spread some kindness even without spending
11:13any money.
11:14Everything from giving out a compliment to babysitting for a friend for free to leaving encouraging notes in random places
11:20on public transportation.
11:21When it comes to random acts of kindness, there is no right and wrong and there is certainly no act
11:26that's too small.
11:27Comment below to let me know what you want to see me try next time and we'll see you then.
11:30Bye!
11:31Hey YouTube, thanks for watching five days of random acts of kindness.
11:35Click here for another video on our channel.
11:37Right here to subscribe to Refinery29.
11:40And here for my personal channel.
11:42See ya!
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