Most of you have seen key elements of our recently refreshed brand. Our brand is a unique differentiator for us and is increasingly becoming a way for us to stand out in a confused and cluttered marketplace.

Today, the industry is filled with boring, muted imagery and, up until recently, that has included our own. Everyone looks the same! Many companies are even using the same images – you could literally replace one logo for another and no one could tell the difference. These images start to actually look like wallpaper – just an unremarkable part of the environment. We thought it was time this changed. We thought it was time to celebrate aging.

This month we’ll be working with our brand team again to capture some new images to add to our lively photo gallery. Also, similar to our first round, we’ve sent out a casting call to the Lower Mainland Nurse Next Door team to find clients, friends and team members of Nurse Next Door to be part of our photo shoot. The best part of our last shoot, the real magic, was being able to showcase real clients, caregivers and friends and of course hear their stories!

We’re excited to see what lively people we gather for this upcoming project, and can’t wait to put some new images to use. In the mean time, here are some amazing shots of the never before seen, ‘behind the scene’ shots of our first photo shoot via Domogeneous (click here).

This June marks the 10-year anniversary of a trip I took with my three best friends that lasted 110 days. We traversed Canada in a giant motorhome and our mission was simple — to connect the world through kindness.

Starting in Victoria, British Columbia we drove all the way to St. John’s, Newfoundland, volunteering in 28 communities along the way. “From the mundane to the magnificent!”, we told the media, school audiences and passersby — and we did it all. Staffed soup kitchens. Roofed homes. Even spent nights on the street with the homeless, cooking them warms meals on portable BBQs.

Living in a cramped motorhome for over three months (with guys) is never a pretty prospect, but I did have a few epiphanies during our random acts road trip:

Epiphany #1: It Feels Good To Give. This one’s obvious, but it’s worth mentioning. When we help others, we help ourselves. Every time you do good, your body puts on a world-class fireworks display of neurotransmitters, which reduces your blood pressure and floods you with feelings of happiness. And guess what? There’s now compelling evidence that suggests helping others prolongs life. There must be something to it if doctors are prescribing volunteering (instead of drugs) to people with depression!

Epiphany #2: In Serving One We Serve All. Something powerful unfolds when a kind act occurs, both in the universal and literal context. During a simple gesture of kindness to one person we simultaneously serve humanity. We are taking a stand for the innate worth of a human being, and role modeling to others in the process. No doubt many of us can attest that being witness to a kind act can be almost more profound than receiving or committing the act itself. When we help one, we help all.

Epiphany #3: Kind Acts Defy the Laws of Physics. Someone smart said for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. This is indeed true. Except when it comes to kindness. Good deeds ripple indefinitely. We can never know where the chain reaction of compassion will end — I suspect it never does. Remember this the next time you hesitate to go a little beyond the call of duty for a stranger. Break the laws.

By the end of our Extreme Kindness Tour in 2002, global media had picked up the message. We even made a trip to New York for some in-studio do-goodness with Good Morning America. Kindness was starting to look cool. Mission semi-accomplished.

This February 13-19 is Random Acts of Kindness Week. I’ll be looking high and low for ways to help, connect and give. 5000 people will read this blog over the next two weeks — and 5000 people may choose to commit a kind act. Multiply that by infinity and I’m pretty sure we’ll be on our way.

Val Litwin, is Nurse Next Door’s Vice President of Franchise Operations and we couldn’t be happier to have a messiah of kindness on our team! You may be thinking to yourself, “I know him from somewhere”. He is also the co-founder of Blo – Blow Dry Bar, a best selling author and a member of The Kindness Crew, a non-profit Kindness Crew Society (ExtremeKindness.com).