What Post Malone Taught Me About Kindness
What a front yard hangout revealed about kindness and ego
I used to live next door to Post Malone’s dad, Rich Post. True story.
I’d often catch Rich in the mornings or evenings and we’d talk about music, Dallas sports and, of course, his son. Post Malone and I may not share a lot in common, but we do share a first name—Austin.
At that time, I was pursuing a life of songwriting and Rich never missed an opportunity to encourage me in my journey.
Then in the summer of 2018 - Rich casually mentioned that Austin (Post Malone) was coming to town and would be at the house for a couple of days. Rich wanted to introduce us and perhaps see if some musical magic would take place. I was both excited and nervous.
If you’ve ever wondered how you’d know if a wildly famous person had arrived in your very suburban North Texas neighborhood - I can tell you the signs to watch for.
You may see some high-end exotic cars parked in the driveway or along the street. Secondly, you may see that what is typically a quiet street has a few more people walking their dogs that you’ve never seen before. Lastly, you very well may see “an entourage” congregating on the lawn next door.
Somehow the city just knew their hometown hero was back.
I stumbled out of my front door and connected with Rich, who made sure we met. He called Austin over and introduced us. There he was. We chatted for a few minutes and then Rich invited me to come “hang out”.
This became the night that I spent a couple of hours with Post Malone, his dad, and his entire entourage. There were conversations about the Dallas Cowboys, his dad’s muscle car in the garage, and some side conversations with his manager and bodyguards about “the life” of a music star. Outside of him being Post Malone… it was a fairly normal Texas gathering.
Then it began. As the night went on, some of those “dog walkers” I mentioned from earlier in the evening began to show up. They’d casually act like they didn’t realize Post Malone was just feet away and then they’d ask for a picture.
I assumed Austin had become very familiar with being approached by fans all the time. I thought surely this would feel annoying or intrusive since he was just at his dad’s house. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Austin (Post Malone) treated every person that approached him that night like he’d invited them personally to his house. It made a real impression on me. He’d chat with them, take a photo (later to land on Instagram) and send them off with kindness. It didn’t seem to bother him one bit. I watched him make strangers’ days one after the other.
What I witnessed that night stuck with me.
Someone who was in the process of becoming one of the most famous people in the world demonstrated unreasonable kindness over and over again.
The night came to a close, I said goodbye to my new buddy, Post, and walked over to my house. I closed the door and wondered, was all of that just a dream?
The truth is no matter how important you think you may be - anyone can be kind.
Often we race through our days and can accidentally (or sometimes intentionally) think the world revolves around ourselves and our fully booked calendar.
When we get stuck in this vortex we begin to spin so fast that we rarely see the people in front of us. What a shame to think the world revolves around us… it makes the world so small… and not in a good way.
“So what are you trying to say Austin? That I’m not that important?”
You are important, just not as important as you may think. And that is a very good thing.
Think about it: you have the power to change someone’s day today through a simple moment of kindness. You have the ability to change the trajectory of someone’s life through an encouraging encounter. That isn’t just power, it’s fun.
You can stay stuck in the whirlwind of life, or you can step out of the whirlwind, look up and maybe change someone’s day through a simple moment.
And hey… if Post Malone can be kind… so can you.
The Human Reset
One Question: Have you been moving too fast to notice the people around you?
One Action: Slow down for one person today. Make eye contact. Ask a question. Stay a minute longer than you normally would.
One Quote: “You can be rich in spirit, kindness, love and all those things that you can’t put a dollar sign on.” – Dolly Parton
To stay grounded and approachable when society pushes stars like Post to be isolated and protected is an intentional choice. It’s his authentic self. Great read.