Chalk It Up To Kindness

One of the primary purposes of Kindness Activist is to show how KINDNESS RIPPLES.  When people talk about kindness – share it with others – it ripples…  I believe that the people who hear about the kindness are subconsciously affected.  Kindness moves more to the forefront of their mind, and therefore, they are more likely to DO something kind.

But the recent ripple I witnessed was much faster and more intentional than I remember seeing!  It was a beautiful, sweet, ripple of KINDNESS!

Photo of original chalk art in the community (not the artwork that was washed away).  Photo credit unknown.

It all started with CHALK.  A family in my community (Arlington, Virginia) had chalked Black Lives Matter statements on their driveway.  Someone in the neighborhood was apparently offended by the chalk art, and they called in to report it and ask that it be removed. 

That someone would be offended by a child’s CHALK ART speaks volumes to how tense our society is right now.  Anyway, the county sent workers out and told them that they HAD to remove the drawings.  To add insult to injury, this all happened on June 19^th (Juneteenth), th holiday that celebrates the day the slaves in Texas finally received the news that they had been proclaimed free 2 and a half years earlier.  And even worse, the county employees who were dispatched to erase the work were African American…  (Link to the story about the incident here: Washington Post story on this incident)

Chalk art on a sidewalk in Arlington.  Photo credit unknown.

As word got out throughout the neighborhood, people were livid.   Arlington is a very diverse and progressive community and this type of hatred and intolerance are not in tune with “the Arlington Way”.  So, neighbors reacted in an amazing manner – they went to the girl’s neighborhood and chalked and chalked and chalked!  Her artwork doubled, tripled, grew into many many many times larger than the original pieces as more and more families added to the messages.  People throughout Arlington joined in and chalked their own sidewalks and driveways.  It was a glorious show of support.

A simple and sincere message.  Photo credit unknown.

I wanted to help out, so we went to Target to buy some chalk sets to share.  I hosted a Kindness Yard Sale last summer where all proceeds raised went to spread kindness, and I had a little bit left in the “Kindness Bank”.  I bought all the sidewalk chalk Target had left – 3 sets.  I am guessing they had a big run on it after the Juneteenth incident!!

This was the only sidewalk chalk I cuold find at Target 2 days after the drawings were destroyed

Then I posted in a Facebook group asking who would like some chalk to write their messages of support.  I delivered the 3 sets of chalk – one to a neighbor I know who asked for some, and 2 sets to people I do not know.  At one house the mom told me it was going to be her daughter’s 6^th  birthday soon.  She sent me this sweet message:  “Any chance you would be inclined to do sidewalk art with us on Wednesday?  Our girl is turning 6 on Saturday and we’re looking for creative ways to teach her some community members want the best for everyone."  I couldn’t join them in their drawing because I had to work, but was so honored to be invited.  At another house, the three little girls had come up with what they wanted to chalk, “We are all children of God” and draw a bunch of people holding hands.  More positive messages of equality!!

Let FREEDOM ring indeed!  Photo credit unknown.

But that is not the kindness I wanted to write about here.  What happened NEXT is what I love.  A person who I only know through a Facebook group sent me a message saying that she would like to help me spread the chalk messages.  She asked for my address and today, THIS CHALK ARRIVED via Amazon!  Isn’t that fantastic?  It was an immediate ripple!!!  Giving away chalk resulted in having MORE chalk to give away!  And that is perfect because tomorrow has been declared Chalk for Justice in Arlington and people are going to hit the pavement with chalk!!  I can’t wait to see the drawings and quotes.

(Edit - after I wrote and published this story, ANOTHER Amazon delivery came!  The kind stranger sent 3 sets of sidewalk chalk!!)

MORE CHALK TO SHARE!  Sent from a kind stranger.  

See how quickly the ripples can happen??  It doesn’t take tons of money (I only spent $30.74 on 3 sets).  It doesn’t take a lot of time (I just bought the chalk, posted about it, and delivered it to 3 houses).  It doesn’t take a lot of effort.  What it takes is heart.  Small acts of KINDNESS can cause big ripples.  Ripples that can reach out into the community and spread…  Spreading kindness everywhere they touch.

What can YOU do to start a ripple today?

Black Lives Matter.  Photo credit unknown

Cards of Kindness

Look, I am not naïve enough to think that a little kindness can put a dent in solving what is happening in our country right now.  It feels as if the world is on fire and no amount of kindness can put it out at this point.  Only equality and justice can begin to right these wrongs. 

But today is the first time in over a week that I have been able to focus.  It is the first time I have been able to think of action instead of anger.  Of fighting instead of crying.  So, I thought maybe a tiny dose of kindness was in order and that it might shine a little candlelight in this dark world.

This is a kind act done by a Facebook friend of mine, Katie.  I have met her a couple of times in person, she and I are both interpreters (American Sign Language/English), but mostly we know each other from social media.  A while back she messaged me and ask for my mailing address.  She said she wanted to send me a “Covid Card”.  Curious (and a lover of mail), I replied with my address.

Katie and her dog Collins ("Rent" fans will recognize that name!)

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I found THIS in my mail!!!!

Isn’t it fabulous????  It brightened my day so much!  I asked Katie if I could write about her project here, in the hopes that it might inspire someone else to do something as cool as she did.  Here’s what she told me.

“I love mailing and receiving cards and letters. It can connect you with people you’d never imagine connecting with. I have been struggling with my anxiety and mental illness since the stay at home orders began a couple months ago. I thought it would be helpful for me, and hopefully others, if I were to reach out on an individual level to the people in my life.”

Ok, yeah Katie.  I adore mail.  Like, I literally used to walk down 3 or 4 flights of stairs twice a day just to check and see if I had any mail (and I rarely did).  But that doesn’t mean I thought, “Hey, Susan, why don’t you mail out over 500 Covid cards to people….”.  Yes – you read that right.  She sent out over 500 cards!!  She said she sent 503, but with the stragglers the total will be closer to 505 or 510.  She sent them all over America (Alaska, New York, California, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, and all around the east coast). A few lucky people in in England, Ireland, and Australia got them, too!

A playful side of Katie at Niagara Falls

Katie likes to send cards to her friends and family for their birthdays, so this project sort of grew out of that.  She was writing out the birthday cards for March and April, then, “…I remembered how fun it is (to send cards) and how much I enjoy it. I also happened to find a BUNCH of stamps and friendship cards just that month, so I had a lot to get started on without much investment up front. It began as mainly the people I write to on their birthdays. I enjoyed it so much and people were responding SO kindly to the idea, I reached out to as many people as I could on Facebook. I’ve reconnected with a ton of people from my high school!”.

Of course I asked Katie the obvious question, WHY DID SHE DO THIS GRAND GESTURE??  “Partially for my own mental health, but more so for those around me. I thought about doing it for strangers, but the closest I got to that was making one for each person in my apartment building; I don’t know all of those people very well. But I’ve realized what I was really looking for was connections through kindness.”  That’s profound…  And, in the end, I think it is what all of us are looking for – connections through kindness. 

One thing I so admire about Katie is her honesty about mental health.  She doesn’t cloak her mental illness, she talks about it.  Her diagnoses are Bipolar 2 and ADHD.  I think openness like hers is so needed.  If more people were willing to be frank, there would be no stigma attached to mental illness.  When I asked her how she has been doing during Covid 19 she said, “To be honest, not that great. I’ve had a number of mental and physical side effects due to the increased anxiety and stress from being quarantined. My psychiatrist has had to change my meds, which did help, but I’m extremely extroverted, so I need those connections to be more present in my life.”  Isn’t it great that she found a way to make those connections without endangering her health??  US Postal Service to the rescue!!!

The newest Kindness Activist - Katie

But gestures this grand don’t come free….  So, how much DID she spend??  “Oh gosh, I’ve honestly been trying NOT to calculate it, because I’m afraid it’s a good bit, and I haven’t been able to work (the unemployment office thinks it’s paying me, but they haven’t started my payments from when I set it up in April!). But it’s $0.59 per stamp, and in averaging out the MANY sets of greeting cards I had, I maybe spent $1-$2 on each card for each person. So, that’s like almost $800. But as I mentioned, I found a bunch of cards and stamps for probably close to 100 people, so I (hopefully) spent less than that.”

“For my next project,” Katie told me, “I’m going to frame all the cards I’ve received in return and put them on my bedroom wall to remember that there are lots of people out there that I’ve had an impact on.”  Well Katie, my return card (which will include your official Kindness Activist pin and a donation for stamps) will be mailed soon!!!  Thank you for being a source of KINDNESS in the world.

And to everyone else reading, let’s take a tip from Katie.  Maybe we won’t mail 500 cards, but even 3 or 4 would brighten people’s days.  And we all need a bit of kindness these days.