Preside
Preside
Peace R
Peace
DECEMBER 2017 | SARASOTA SCENE 97
My daughter HAD to take it home. Not
long after, we bought a bag of rocks from
Dollar Tree, dug out some acrylic paint
and cheap-o brushes, and got to work
ourselves. But the question lingered—
rock thing really about beyond an excuse
to get artsy with paint and an unconventional
natural canvas, of sorts?
A little sleuthing showed that the global
goals.
Goal #1: Inspire others through randomly
placed rocks that are decorated
with inspirational messages or uplifting
images.
Goal #2: Recruit every person who
inspiring others through similar random
acts of kindness.
The movement began in 2015 when
Oprah Winfrey told Megan Murphy of
to help others. Murphy soon started picking
up beach rocks, painting inspirational
notes on them, and then leaving them
out that all it’d take to turn this idea
into something bigger was to include
a hashtag. And that’s how the Kind-
been shared tens of millions of times.
Jules Farnsworth, the administrator
of the Facebook group Sarasota Rocks,
says that last November, she saw a video
about Lakeland Rocks and the Kindness
movement. Before long, the Sarasota
Rocks page was up and running, and
now it boasts 2k+ members. She notes
have since emerged in Sarasota as well
as Bradenton and Venice.
Farnsworth adds that “the most important
thing people should know about the
rock, please post it. We’re building connections
between people in the community
and the artists who want to see who
found their rocks. It’s like a pot of gold at
the end of the rainbow to see your rock
posted.” She notes that some of her greatest
friendships started exactly this way.
A similar movement—Peace Rocks—
has been around since 2006. The main
difference is that these rocks all have
the word “peace” on them. President
Obama and Vice President Biden both
received Peace Rocks in 2011, and
Peace Rocks can also be found all over
the world.
“These movements offer a lot of lessons,”
Farnsworth says. “One is for the
artist to give without having the expectation
of seeing their rocks again. That’s
something we always battle. People
10% of my rocks posted yet I’ve put out
thousands of them. But I’ve gained so
many friends from this. Everyone who
gets involved has found the magical feel
of giving back to the community. We
love seeing the smiling faces of people
as they locate our hidden rocks.”
Farnsworth regularly holds rock painting
events at places like North Water
Tower Park and Brew Life Brewery. But
it’s also pretty darn easy to grab some
your own. Best of all? Pro-level art skills
aren’t required to create a huge impact
in someone else’s life.
So keep an eye out for Kindness Rocks
around Sarasota and consider posting
#Sarasotarocks hashtag. Odds are, they
might be ones that my daughters or I
made. Maybe, too, we’ll put that ladybug
back in circulation. Perhaps.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
on Sarasota Rocks, please visit
facebook.com/groups/sarasotarocks/
FOR MORE INFORMATION
on the Kindness Rocks Project, please visit
thekindnessrocksproject.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION
on Peace Rocks, please visit
peacerocks.org
"Everyone who gets involved has found the magical feel of
giving back to the community."
/
/thekindnessrocksproject.com
/peacerocks.org