Inspiring rocks pop up in Port Colborne
Since mid-June, inspirational messages painted on small rocks have been popping up across Port Colborne.
They’ve been found on window ledges outside businesses, propped up against trees, across Lock 8 Park, on benches at H.H. Knoll Lakeview Park, in places along the Welland Canal trail and near Bridge 21.
“We aren’t actually hiding them in obscure places,” says Patte McCarthy, who started Port Colborne Rocks. “We place them in spots where we know they will be found.”
The idea came about from a group she’s been following for more than a year called The Kindness Rocks Projects, which started as a pay-it-forward service project created by U.S.-based life coach Megan Murphy in the hope of sparking joy in people’s everyday lives.
“I’ve been placing a rock here and there since mid-June,” says McCarthy, a local artist who has been joined in her effort by friend Bonney Heatherington. “We both loved the idea of starting a kindness project that everyone can do.”
Heatherington says she loved the hide and seek aspect of the rocks, and the idea of surprising people with a little message.
“It started with me and Bonney and now others are joining in,” says McCarthy. “This is for all age groups from young children, to teens, adults and our elders.”
The two women have placed between 30 to 40 stones across the community, and McCarthy says there’s been upwards of 100 placed as others took note of the project.
Says Heatherington, “My first instinct was to do dozens of them and leave them everywhere, but it takes a bit of time to decorate and seal them, so I set my personal goal at placing one rock every day of the year. That’s 365 little messages, a possible 365 people whose faces you could bring a smile to.”
She adds, “I can’t draw, so I decorate mine with inspirational, encouraging or whimsical words or phrases. Acrylic craft paint from the dollar store is all you need or permanent Sharpies are great for words and designs.”
Port Colborne Rocks can be found online at www.facebook.com/Port-ColborneRocks-1942811642626535.
“It seems all we hear is bad news, negative comments and a lot of unhappy people. This is a way to make a person smile.,” McCarthy says.
“The feedback we’ve gotten so far is that folks are experiencing pure joy at finding these little rock gems. That makes me happy. I would love to see this totally spread across Canada. It’s already happening in some places. Let’s make this go viral.”