Rock My World

So I found this little movie here at the Dancing Mermaid (don't you love this blog name !), through the wonderfully inspiring Jen Lemen's blog. It made me cry with joy and wanting and inspiration. I want to do what The Dancing Mermaid did and find a group of kids and art journal with them everyday !!! Okay, once a week would be fine.! How wonderful to think of kids learning so early on the wonder, the healing and the joy that taking time to explore and foster our own creativity gives ! There is also such a gap in so many of the school systems when it comes to art and creativity. Ah, I could go on and on about this... I have ideas about how to make it all happen but my ideas are still in the embryo or pupa stage and need some TLC and some fear-facing in order to come to fruition.

In the mean time, I had to make me some of these rocks.

I actually did this before my trip to Montreal last week. I had a bucket of stones I had collected at Hampton Beach, NH a couple of years ago with the intention of using them in some arty way some day. I covered a bunch of them with a layer of acrylic paint, or left some of them their natural stony color. I wrote my inspiring messages with a Sharpie or a gel pen, pasted on a layer of glossy water based varnish and there I had it ! A little pile of love and good wishes to send off to my fellow men and women.

I so loved the idea of someone walking by and catching a glimpse of the color, stopping and picking up the stone and knowing that that message was meant for them ! I only wish I could have been there to see it - like there proverbial fly on the wall. But that's ok. As you know if you know me at all, things have been a little rough around here lately. Words I heard somewhere (or many places) keep ringing in my head...when you are feeling dispair, reach out and help another and you will feel better. And I have to say, I did...I felt connected to my world, felt more hopeful about the strength of good over evil, and good about myself for taking the time to give a little. It just felt good to put a little love out there without any expectations...

So I scattered the rocks here and there along the way to Montreal and back again. Some were left on picnic tables at rest areas in Vermont, on flower planters in the quaint town of Ste. Anne-de-Bellevue, in the coin return slot of a payphone, in a bowl of rocks at a friend's house, and just on the grey cement of the downtown sidewalk. I didn't get to witness anyone finding one but I hope that they had a smile or a sigh when they did. I had one stone left in my baggie when I got home. It was fitting that I give it to my sweet Hubby David and get a hug and kiss in return. The last stone of that trip read :