Born This Way Foundation Reporters - Channel Kindness: Stories of Kindness and Community

As I scanned the pages of this incredible compilation of kindness, bravery, community, resilience, and triumph, I was overwhelmed with pride, gratitude, and appreciation for the people sharing their stories with me, with you, and with the world. Contained in these pages is the proof of a kinder, braver world that I envisioned more than eight years ago when I cofounded Born This Way Foundation with my mother, the proof that I had so desperately prayed for as a young girl, and the proof that Ive tried to work tirelessly for over my lifetime.

Though I was surrounded by love, I often lived in the world by myselfwhether writing and performing songs on the piano, creating elaborate stories and performances in the most unlikely of situations, turning strangers into friends at restaurants where I waitressed, or, unfortunately, trying to escape the harsh reality of bullies and the unkindness that often surrounded me. The world that I created in my dreams was one in which people led with kindness, were emboldened by bravery, and accumulated love and community. As I read the stories contained within these pagesstories of standing up for love, standing up for others, and the quiet courage it takes to stand up for yourselfI believed the world I created in my dreams could one day be possible for everyone else, too.

Our book, told from the vantage point of young people from all across the country, highlights random acts of kindness given to and by strangers during periods of grief, loneliness, and hardship. It emphasizes the connection and tender care that come with building genuine friendships. And it is a gentle reminder of the kindness and love we all have the potential to share. I can see that through the hearts and passion of the young people in our Born This Way Foundation family, our kinder, braver world is becoming a reality.

Born This Way Foundation was a movement before it was formalized as an organization. The same can be said of Channel Kindness, which I refer to as the kindest place on the internet and nowthe kindest place in print. Both were built out of the experiences that I had growing up and the profound impact that kindness (and its absence) has had on my life. As I began to tour the world, I would share my experiences onstage, and thousands of young people from all over the world would share theirs with me. We would cry together, laugh together, heal together, and promise one another that wed continue to not only survive, but that we would find a way to thrive.

It was in that spiritand with their spiritthat we started our work at Born This Way Foundation for a generation of young people who shouldnt have to live in a brave, kind world that only exists in their heads. Our goals at the foundation (and I would venture, in our lives for the team of people who have made this work their mission) are threefold: to make kindness cool; to validate the emotions of young people around the world; and to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health. It will take all of us to accomplish these lofty goals, and we believe that young people are uniquely positioned to create this kinder, braver world because they are filled with hope, compassion, and a commitment to community, and they are defined by diversity, inclusivity, and a distinct perseverance that make them powerful beyond even their own wildest imaginations. In each interaction I have with young people, I see this. And you will see this here, too, on every page, in every story.

LADY GAGA

When I was young, I prayed a lot. (Whether that implicitly means that someone should or should not read this book, however, is decidedly irrelevant.) It wasnt because I was religious. It was because I was a deep and passionate thinkerwho thought a lotand was spiritual and creative even when I was very little. So if we substitute prayer with asking the universe questions about my life, this, to me, would be a more accurate way for you to understand the beginning of my story as Lady Gaga and why it is important to read and share this book with others. I always considered myself a theorist and would posture ideas constantly to myself and those around me. Who am I? What am I? Who are we as humankind? Then I began channeling this into inventions: music, characters in school plays, poetry, and writing. Needless to say, at some point, lots of people have found me to be very peculiar. Weird was a word I heard a lot. Why do you want to be a singer, actress, dancer, performer, artist, writer? was also condescendingly asked of me. And to be honest, it ultimately felt as though many relentless and quite mean children and adults around me were asking me why I existed. Because I never felt I existed without art.

Middle school acting headshot

Thus began my journey with bullying. I was even bullied in class for essays similar to the one youre reading right now. Once I gave a dissertation my senior year of high school. I practiced it all night; it was about shock art and representations of Christianity in art throughout history, the latter being the point of my homework and the former being the conceptual twist I threw in to make all eighty pages of my thesis interesting to me. I distinctly recall a momentone of many stories that made me who I am. I was delivering my thesis as a speech to my class, with poster boards Id beautifully made to show the evolution of God in art from classical to contemporary, and my teacher was called out of the room for an emergency and asked me to continue my presentation. In the middle of my speech, my high school bullyin front of my entire classloudly and rudely interrupted me and said, Why are you still talking? Now, because this is a book and not a movie or episodic show on Netflix, I cant do an impression of her to truly do her justice, but lets just say her tone was the equivalent of Youre annoying and dumb and Could you please spare me and this entire class of your idiotic attempt to care about this assignment.

I was upset that I actually did something I hadnt done so openly before. I used to cry at home or in the school bathroom or the nurses office, but this time, I burst into tears in front of my entire class and sobbed uncontrollably with my hands over my face while everyone stared at me. When my teacher reentered the room, I very quickly composed myself and continued to share my project. The only thing worse for me in this moment than having a breakdown in public in front of my bully would have been my teacher catching on, asking me who bullied me, and then me having to lie or tell the truthboth of which would have gotten me in trouble, either in school or socially with the other students.