Kindness. I try so hard to be kind to people, but when someone cuts me off while driving or accuses me of something I didn’t do because of a miscommunication, all my best intentions go flying out the window. I’m not usually a loud person and I don’t talk much, but my body language shouts when I’m irritated. When I was growing up, my mom said I had daggers for eyes.

When Brandon Sanderson was interviewed by a writer from Wired, he invited the man to spend a few days with him, let him stay in his company house, ate with him, wandered around an amusement park with him—and when the article came out, the writer labeled Sanderson as weird and boring, and criticized everything from his clothes and religion to his family. His fans exploded.

But Brandon Sanderson did not. With a grace that I still don’t fully understand, he expressed his sadness and confusion and asked his fans to leave the writer alone.

His reaction felt like an earthquake to me. I’d never heard of anyone reacting to an attack with such compassion. It astounded and deeply impressed me. I think I’m too ornery a person to react like that, but I aspire to be a little kinder because of him.