Have Your Heard About ’The Kindness Rocks Project?”
"Our purpose is simple, to cultivate connections within communities and lift others up through simple acts of kindness.”— Kindness Rocks
Will you keep the rock and make a new one to pass along to someone else? Pass along the one you found?
It’s like the line at Starbucks where someone unexpectedly pays for the drink of the person behind them, and then that person behind them pays for whoever is behind them.. and so on and so on…
It’s this wonderful ripple effect of kindness and selflessness that restores your faith in humanity and gives you a positive outlook for the rest of your day.
In the past, we have taken part in this ‘Kindness Rocks’ project, offering a paint a rock event where you can join us to paint… But this is simple enough for you to do at home!
Gather the kids to help decorate rocks and you can write the messages on them.
Bring your rocks to an Open Studio Event, Monday through Friday from 1-5 and paint them for free. During our open studio, you can also paint an 8x8 painting, with self-guided instructions for $18
So, what exactly is ’The Kindness Rocks Project’?:
The Kindness Rock Project is a viral trend where people, commonly children, paint pebbles or cobbles and leave them for others to find and collect. Photos of the painted rocks and hints of where to find them are commonly shared on Facebook groups. The trend originated in the U.S. and has spread to the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand as well as other countries.
The Kindness Rock Project is a viral trend where people, commonly children, paint pebbles or cobbles and leave them for others to find and collect. Photos of the painted rocks and hints of where to find them are commonly shared on Facebook groups. The trend originated in the U.S. and has spread to the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand as well as other countries.
As the trend of painting kindness rocks has spread, it has many derivatives but remains true to its original intention of spreading kindness. Rocks are painted as a social-emotional learning activity for kids, as well as to support particular charities, events, or movements. Sometimes the name of a hashtag or the Facebook group the painter belongs to is written on it as well.
Generally, rocks that are hidden are intended to be picked up, photographed, and put on Facebook, and then re-hidden in a different spot. However, different rock groups may have different ideas; some might be asked to be taken as far as possible, and others hidden in the same city or general region. The Kindness Rocks Project encourages people to set up community Inspiration gardens.
The painting rock trend was revived during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here’s Where It All Began:
(*In the words of Megan Murphy, the founder//creator of the project):
“My parents passed away when I was in my early 20s.. (So, before I had my children).
And I would basically have conversations with my mom and dad.
I would look for signs and messages from them. It’s a very introspective process for me. I would say, “Mom, Dad.. Send me a message or a sign that this is the right thing... That this is what I should be doing, or this is the right direction I should be going in.”
So I had this whole system: A heart-shaped rock would be from my Dad; A piece of sea glass would be from my Mom. And whenever I would find one, I would feel like I was being supported, or that was the right decision and right direction to go in, and I would leave the beach that day, and I would think “Wow, ok, I’ve got this, and I can handle this.”
Those were the moments when I really felt something bigger than myself, but actually, through this process, I realized the answers lay within me. These messages weren’t coming from someone else… It was coming from something that I already knew.
I started noticing other people that were walking and I started noticing that they had the same expressions that I did, on my face, that they were maybe introspective, or looking for something… Contemplating life….
One day when I was leaving for my walk, there was a Sharpie on the counter, and I picked it up, stuck it in my pocket, and when I got to the beach, I was looking around to see if anyone was watching me, and I started writing messages on rocks. I would drop one, then walk aways away and drop another one. And on the first day, all I dropped was 5 rocks, and the whole time, I was thinking, “What am I doing?”
Interestingly enough, later that night, a friend of mine texted me a picture of a rock she found on the beach… And there are millions of rocks. There’s no possible way that I dropped 5 rocks, and that a friend of mine found one of those rocks and she picked it up and texted me. I didn’t tell anyone that I was doing it. I think, maybe, that she recognized my handwriting and she knew I walked the beach every day. And when she texted me the picture, I said “No, I didn’t do that. It wasn’t me, but that’s really cool that someone did that” … And she replied (and this is the moment that the project started; This was the absolute moment that it started): “If you did drop this rock, then it made my day… I was having a rough day and the message just meant so much.”
.. And I thought, “Ok, I have something here”
— Megan Murphy, founder
**You can see Megan talk about this herself, and learn everything you need to know, here: https://www....ksproject.com
Using These Rocks & This Project To Spread The Word For Those Interested In Doing More With ‘The Kindness Rocks Project’
BENEFITS OF BEING A PART OF THIS:
You will connect with like-minded amazing, Kind people from around the world on one page (well three actually Facebook, Twitter and Instagram)
You can REGISTER your location on our Map database
It takes a lot of dedication to monitor comments, photos, uploads, shares, and questions along with maintaining inspiration gardens (which is the fun, creative part) We will take care of all that and share your posts with over 100,000 people….PRETTY AMAZING RIGHT?
A few questions you might be wondering if you're LOVING this idea and are eager to get more involved:
-- HOW DO I BECOME A “FEATURED POST” ON TKRP SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES?
We would LOVE to share your posts and all of the great work you or your group is doing to spread kindness in our world, in fact, we want to feature each and every one of YOU, as this is a project of MANY! Simply email your photos and stories to Thekindnessrocksproject@gmail.com and in the subject line please put “feature request”... that way we will be sure to get to you faster.
-- HOW DO I JOIN BY STARTING MY OWN PAGE IN MY OWN COMMUNITY?
We are so happy you are joining us and would like to bring TKRP to your community, that is what this project is all about…spreading kindness! We also realize that some of you may like to open your own Facebook Page so that you can connect with other rock stars in your area and/or track your followers and those who find your kindness rocks. Simply create your own page and ADD in your ABOUT US section in your bio that you are a part of TKRP. It’s as simple as that! Then be sure to link yourself to our Project by using #TheKIndnessRocksproject in the body of your posts. In addition, be sure to email us photos and stories so we can feature your kindness with the rest of the project!
Naperville has a Kindness Rock Group Here: https://www....5509908457731
-- WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF TKRP?
The project is driving itself, the growth of Kindness is exponential when we all contribute to it! So, in a nutshell, we have no idea, but we're pretty sure it will be awesome and even more uplifting thanks to the thousands of people across the WORLD who have joined us.
Bring your rocks to an Open Studio Event, Monday through Friday from 1-5 and paint them for free. During our open studio, you can also paint an 8x8 painting, with self-guided instructions for $18.