Kindness, Kids & Rocks

For the past few weeks my head has been full of rocks. Rocks in waking moments, rocks in my dreams. Not just any rocks. Really special rocks. Kindness rocks.

The Kindness Rocks Project was created to spread inspiration and motivation for unsuspecting recipients through random inspirational rocks dropped along the way.

The Project has two goals:

Goal #1: Inspire others through randomly placed rocks along the way…

Goal #2: Recruit every person who stumbles upon it to join in the pursuit of inspiring others through random acts of kindness.

I think The Kindness Rocks Project is all kinds of wonderful. I love that kindness is present throughout the entire process of creating the rocks, dropping the rocks, following the random connections as they unfold and the central philosophy behind the project to recruit others to the cause.

Last week I wrote about The Science of Kindness and the wonderful things giving, receiving and witnessing acts of kindness does to our bodies and minds. Creating Kindness Rocks is just one of the many expressive practices we can choose to include in our Kindness Health Kicks.

I think the reason The Kindness Rocks Project has captured my heart so much is that it is such a simple and beautiful physical expression of kindness that is accessible across a range of ages and abilities.

Immediately after I learned about The Kindness Rocks Project, I dreamed of Kindness Rocks every night for weeks. Repetitive dreams is usually a sign I need to do something. I was already sold on creating Kindness Rocks to drop in my local area…I wanted to do more. Specifically I felt like I wanted to write on this subject matter to help spread the word.

So I contacted the lovely Megan Murphy, the generous and creative soul behind The Kindness Rocks Project, and asked her permission to feature Kindness Rocks in a story for children I have been writing on – you guessed it – kindness. She gave my project her blessing, quoting The Kindness Rocks Project Goal #2 “Recruit every person…”

The manuscript took on a new life of it’s own from that point and is now in the critique, review & editing phase. I am so excited and determined to bring this particular book to life. Kids + Rocks + Kindness = what a winning and worthwhile equation. What teachables, what practical applications, what potential to inspire, motivate and spread kindness through the fresh hearts and minds of the youngest members of our communities.

I have spent the past month painting Kindness Rocks with my children (aged 2 and 4), talking while we painted about the What and the Why. Their own beautiful metaphor is that this Easter holiday period our family will be hiding rocks like the Easter Bunny hides Easter eggs: just because it’s a kind thing to do and it will make people smile. 

We did our first rock drop yesterday on a golden, windy afternoon in our local bayside suburb of Manly, in Queensland, Australia. Despite being prepared for the experience, it blew me away. We walked out along a long rocky wall that extends our suburb into Moreton Bay and the kids took their time finding the perfect place to drop each rock.

On our walk back Mr. 4 was not-so-subtly “staking out” the rocks we had dropped. He saw people ahead of us stop, bend down and read the rocks we had made. Smile. Walk on. His face at seeing this immediate impact of kindness – one human to another – was pure joy. He couldn’t wait to get home to make more. To give.

On a small personal scale I love that my children can experience the joy of kindness through something as simple and beautiful as a painted rock with a message on it. With a wider scope, I am excited to share and inspire kindness in more children through physical rocks and the stories I write with themes of kindness threaded through. I love that this hobby of one kind woman in Cape Cod USA has blossomed into a movement of thousands around the world.

If you’ve been inspired to join the movement and make a few Kindness Rocks to drop in your local area too, here’s where you can find a downloadable “how-to” guide on the best materials and process for creating Kindness Rocks.  Don’t forget to add #thekindnessrocksproject to the back of each rock you create, so folks can discover the story and pass it on. It is important to seek & receive permission from local council or private owners to create inspirational rock gardens installations (a larger collection and drop point for Kindness Rocks). Scattering a handful of single rocks in various public locations can be inspirational, dropping hundreds in one place without permission could undo any good intentions you have created. So be mindful and respectful of others in your rock dropping practice.

It feels wonderful to be a very tiny part of such an inspirational movement for good. I’m grateful that I made the time to move it straight from the I’d-like-to-do-this-one-day to the I’m-starting-it-right-now list.

So here’s to following through to execution with random acts of kindness that grab us by the heart and refuse to let go.