We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sonja Wendt. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sonja below.

Hi Sonja, thanks for joining us today. One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?

There is a unique, heavy kind of grief that comes when your child prepares to build a life a hemisphere away. When my oldest daughter was getting ready to move from the United States to Europe, the reality of the vast ocean and time zones that would soon separate us hung over me like a shadow. I was feeling incredibly low, carrying a quiet, aching sadness that I couldn’t quite shake.

On one of those particularly heavy days, I had an appointment with my hair stylist. Because of her schedule that day, she was working out of her home. Walking into her familiar, personal space felt different than walking into a busy salon—it was quieter, more intimate. When she looked at me and asked the standard, polite question, “How are you doing?”, the weight of my reality caught up to me. I simply couldn’t pretend. “Well,” I admitted softly, “I’m feeling pretty sad today.”

What happened next felt entirely orchestrated by grace.

Across the room in the kitchen, my stylist’s three-year-old daughter was sitting in her high chair. She didn’t know the logistics of international moves, or the ache of a mother’s heart, but she saw me. The moment our eyes met, it was as if she detected an unspoken SOS. She immediately began scrambling, determined to get out of her chair.

Before anyone could fully react, she was on her feet, running across the living room toward me with her arms stretched wide open. She didn’t hesitate, she didn’t ask—she just wanted me to pick her up.

When I lifted her into my lap, she wrapped herself around me and rested her little head directly on my shoulder. She held on tightly and didn’t want to let me go. Her dad, who had been watching her from the kitchen, was frozen in absolute shock. It wasn’t like her to react to a client this way, let alone a virtual stranger with such fierce, immediate affection.

In that moment, the heavy fog of my sadness lifted, replaced by a rush of pure warmth. It felt as though the universe was using the hands of a child to deliver exactly what I needed: a reminder that love is a universal language, that connection transcends distance, and that it is safe to be held when you are hurting. To top it off, her parents joined in on the love, kindness, and empathy their child exhibited and we joined into one big group hug. It was, without a doubt, the kindest, most beautiful thing anyone has done for me in a very long time.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

My name is Sonja Wendt and I am an author and speaker on the book series, Cultivating Compassion in Children. I have written 4 award winning children’s books and a 1st place award parenting book on the topic. My husband and I have a large garden, so I decided to address compassion with a gardening and nature theme.

I never intended to be an author and was surprisingly inspired by events that happened around me including seeing the negative impacts of social media on children and misunderstandings by lack of communication and understanding. Those feelings weighed heavy on me. I finally moved forward. It started with one book then 3 others and finally the parenting book that wraps it all together. I address misunderstandings as people change in life passages to miscommunications on a playground. By becoming aware, we can become more compassionate, kind, and caring.

The Cultivating Compassion in Children series is about preparing, nurturing, growing, teaching, and appreciating compassionate children through creating increased awareness. It is like gardening that requires preparing the soil, watering, and fertilizing the plants, weeding, and then appreciating the fruit or flowers that are produced. The stories are intended, like looking through a magnifying glass, for children to get a bigger picture, a greater understanding of different situations. The series addresses inclusion, bullying, kindness, and understanding the natural process of aging. Seymour and Serina Seed start each of the stories and then wrap them up at the end. Each of the stories have questions at the end to help facilitate a healthy discussion between the adult and child about the messages conveyed in the
story.

Website: sonjawendt.com
Amazon: https://bit.ly/SonjaLangeWendt

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My creative journey is energized by a purpose: to bridge the gap between generations and build a more empathetic world. Through my series, Cultivating Compassion in Children—which includes four children’s books and a parenting book—I focus on three foundational pillars: Care, Compassion, and Connection.

I use imagery of nature and gardening as a metaphor for raising healthy, emotionally resilient children. Just as a garden requires intentional care, our children need deep-rooted emotional nourishment. A major piece of this is addressing childhood self-esteem. I don’t mean superficial praise, entitlement, or ‘participation trophies,’ but instead, fostering a genuine, internal sense of worth based on principles and morals—the deep-down knowledge that they are valued just as they are with their uniqueness and quirkiness that they develop and grow into their own.

This series also encourages communication and thereby understanding between the generations including the impacts of disabilities that are often misunderstood. The stories address or parallel real-life situations that prompt discussion with richness and substance thereby increasing comprehension, compassion, and connection.

By reflecting these themes in my writing, I hope to grow compassion, kindness, and understanding across generations. Ultimately, my mission is simple: “planting seeds of compassion, one story at a time.”

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative in my world is the connection that sparks a light of understanding, generating comprehension and compassion. I have brought together children and seniors to listen, talk, create and connect. I have seen children read my books or hear my stories with laughter, inquisitiveness, and ability to answer thought provoking questions at the end of the stories. My books provide a platform where I can interact with parents, grandparents, and children which brings so much joy. But the most rewarding aspect I receive is knowing I’m making a positive difference in creating a more compassionate world.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sonjawendt.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skwendt/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sonjalangewendt
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonjawendt/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sonjawendt207

Image Credits

All the pictures are mine.