"One message at just the right moment can change someone's entire life."
If you are looking for an inexpensive craft for both kids and adults and a way to get involved in spreading kindness in the community, the Kindness Rock Project is a great one. I met with the ladies from Chula Vista/South Bay Rocks, Tamie Bifolchi & Michele Dewhirst to get some insight about this beautiful movement, and I left with some inspiration to spread the word to our readers.
They shared with me that this movement began in 2015 at Cape Cod by Megan Murphy, who would take daily morning walks on the beach for introspection and insight. She found herself looking for signs along the way, such as heart-shaped rocks or pieces of rare sea glass. When she would find one, she would feel like a question had been answered and she was on the right path. It made her feel at ease and happy. It was then that she decided to paint and drop inspirational messages on beach rocks for others to find, in hopes that her rock would be the message that others needed for encouragement. Read about Megan's story here.
The positive movement has since spread to places like Missouri, Texas, Florida, New York, and has now traveled as far as Mexico, Canada, England, Italy, and Australia. Some of these rocks have traveled from ports in the US and ended up in international waters. But don't go far or think very big to get inspired. Samantha from Chula Vista got off the freeway one morning and drove to J Street Marina Park to look for a rock that had been shared on FaceBook. She had been crying on the freeway while stuck in traffic after she had been stressing about bills, waking up late, not finding her shoe, and dropping of her son late to school. "Finding my first rock not only brought joy to my morning, but it also inspired my husband to paint more rocks to hide around our community to share the joy. This rock definitely rocks its quote, 'Be the reason someone smiles today'."
Thanks to local FB groups and people like Tamie and Michele that have helped spread the movement locally, rock artists and hiders are able to "follow" their rock as well as share their stories. By writing the name "Chula Vista / South Bay Rocks on Facebook" on the bottom of the rock, you can follow it wherever it goes. Remember, this is all about spreading kindness, which is sometimes not focused on. By participating, the person who made the rock, smiles, and the person who found the rock, smiles. The day we met, Michele and Tamie each gave me a rock...and I couldn't help but smile the rest of the day. ♥
Ready to play?
If you hide a rock, you would post a picture of it with a clue as to where to find it. If you find a rock, you would post a picture of it and share about where you found it. You can either re-hide rocks or keep them, what ever you would like. If you find a rock from other faraway FB groups, please search for the group on FB and post a picture of the rock and where it traveled to. You are also encouraged to share the faraway rock on our local group page so everyone locally can smile. Also, you can make a CV/South Bay rock and travel with it, and it can end up in all parts of the world to spread and inspire people globally. Some groups near us that we know of include: Napa, Santee (which has over 13K members!), National City, Coronado, Imperial Beach, Alpine, Jamul, and Lakeside, but there are groups everywhere.
Where to buy rocks and supplies:
Rocks can be purchased by the bag at stores like Home Depot or Lowes. Tamie suggests buying the "rain forest small Caribbean beach pebbles" which cost about $13 dollars a bag. They are smooth so the paint goes on really well. You can also use what ever you have laying around in your own yard. Make sure you do not take rocks from peoples yards or landscaping, as well as from stores landscaping. Little bottles of acrylic paint can be purchased as well as paint brushes at stores like Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or Walmart. Tamie and Michele suggest getting mod podge sealant to help the art last a long time!
How to make them:
The Chula Vista/South Bay Rocks group will be hosting a Rock Painting Party on Saturday December 2nd from 11am to 1pm at the South Chula Vista Library. Paint and rocks will be provided! It will be snow man themed and there will be a contest too! This will help the newbies get some inspiration and ideas! Otherwise, just feel free to get creative and paint them on your own.
Where to hide them:
Hide them anywhere where people walk, play, or hang out! Such as local parks, the beach, near local libraries, etc. Be respectful of stores and businesses. Please do not leave your rocks inside of any of them, as well as inside people's yards or personal property.
Respectful etiquette rules:
All rock art should be suitable to all ages, please nothing graphic or vulgar.
Pease make sure when you hide a rock that you are not leaving it on a walkway where some one may trip on it and fall.
Please do not paint over some one else's art.
