Hilaria Baldwin On Living Clearly & Getting Zen In The City

I really like giving gifts - even simple things. My kids will get so excited about, like, a balloon or a cupcake. Kindness is a gift that you give to other people. Especially in a place like New York, when you give somebody a little bit of kindness, it's overwhelming for them. Sometimes they look at you and they can't even believe it. It's such a beautiful feeling that I get from giving that, and it makes me want to do it more and more. It very much is like paying it forward, it is contagious. If you're kind to someone, think about all the people they were possibly kind to that day. Never do it with any kind of expectation, but you can always be kind to promote a better environment. 

I think through this whole political contention - it's a very unkind climate. It's about exclusion, it's about "I'm better than you," "My race or religion is better than yours," "This is our privilege, not yours." People who are Trump supporters have said, "We had to deal with Obama for eight years, now it's your turn to see what it feels like." It's like, whoa! That's not the point, to take turns and all of a sudden, make things another way just because you were so invisible for the past eight years. It's about becoming united and coming all together. We need to look at both sides and realize that everyone deserves to be happy as long as it's not hurting anyone else. One of the biggest problems with what's going on right now, it's about taking away freedoms that people have. That's a very dangerous road to go down. Whether you're a Republican or Democrat, trying to win the other side over with negativity and being mean - it's fighting against each other. Being stubborn and rude about someone's identity that's different than yours, you're just going to breed more negativity. The point is to be kind, and that's the way that it's going to make it better. Try to speak up, share your beliefs, and hopefully the other side will listen more.