Marshall County residents are rocking the community … literally.
Marshall County Rocks is a steadily growing group of residents among those in a phenomenon gaining momentum across the U.S., working to make a difference with the little things in life through the Kindness Rocks Project. Participants paint rocks in various designs, colors and whatever the imagination dictates, then place them in random locations with the hope that others will find and appreciate them. Rockers pick up those that speak to them, or give others to those they know for whom a found rock may hold meaning. And maybe, they’ll put a smile on someone’s face.
It’s about making a connection in a world in which many feel more alone than ever. According to the Kindness Rocks project website, the initiative began with founder Megan Murphy, a Cape Cod resident who lost her parents at an early age. According to Murphy’s account on the site (thekindnessrocksproject.com), she walks the beach daily, finding it a place for insight and clarity.
“Losing my parents at a young age meant losing my advisers, my sounding board, and my role models,” Murphy wrote. “During difficult or stressful moments in my life, I found myself looking for “signs” on my morning walk, such as a heart shaped rock or a piece of sea glass. I perceived these small beach treasures as ‘signs’ or as a divine message and the random inspiration I needed to signify that things would be OK.”
It occurred to her then, that she was likely not the only person looking for such signs. She began painting a few rocks at a time, placing them in places here and there for others to find. Soon, she started receiving messages from strangers who had found them, and been touched by the gesture. Murphy began sharing her efforts on social media, and soon others followed suit.
Now, that effort has spread into Marshall and surrounding counties in western Kentucky. Barbara Collins Stevenson, a native of Marshall County living in Cocoa, Fla., helped establish the local group of rockers after she herself inadvertantly found an inspirational rock in Florida.
Rocks painted by Lynn Hicks lay on a table. Hicks and TOPS chapter friends intend to drop them along their way to Little Rock.
“They’re big here,” she said. “… I went to dinner and just went for a walk afterwards around the waterfront park that was there, and I found a rock. … My husband was working out of town, and I was home by myself and I was kind of feeling kind of blue. So it was really like a good time to find one.”
The rock, she said, just said “Love,” but it stuck with her. Stevenson began researching the project, and she quickly joined the growing ranks of those hooked on spreading good will. Stevenson found her first rock in late April and joined a local group. Soon, she had spread the word to others back home, and when she returned Memorial Day weekend to visit family, she brought 50 of her own patriotic rocks to leave at the Veterans Memorial Plaza in Mike Miller Park. She dropped another 50 inspirational rocks throughout the county.
She wasn’t the first to leave a rock, though. Stevenson challenged hometown friends to take up the mantle and drop rocks before she could beat them to it; 7-year-old Brody Morgan accepted that challenge, she said, becoming the first official rocker in Marshall County.
It’s only spread from there. Stevenson set up the group’s Facebook page, on which rockers will post pictures of rocks they’ve painted or found, others will post where they’ve rocked that day. The page, which began at the end of May, now has more than 1,750 members. Calvert City United Methodist Church was planning a rock garden, she said, and popularity was steadily increasing. As momentum builds, rockers show no signs of slowing any time soon.
Lynn Hicks, Morgan’s great aunt turned avid rocker, said it’s an addictive hobby. She began painting, leaving and hunting rocks at the end of May, after her great nephew dropped his first rock and began participating. In addition to spreading a little joy, Hicks said it’s just plain fun to do, and gives youth something to do.
“It’s more or less to get kids out of the house, away from the TV, away from the computer and to show them (the good) of random acts of kindness,” Hicks said.
Hicks said even though she’s no great artist, she enjoys painting the rocks. She often paints inspirational messages, ladybugs or Minions characters. The possibilities for design were limitless, she said; Hicks always writes Marshall County Rocks Facebook information on those that she decorates in hopes of seeing where they go. She’s placed rocks in various places throughout the county, including the downtown strip in Benton, Curves, Lake Chem and South Marshall Fire Department.
“That somebody cares, that you get out there and you’re in your community and that you care about your community, and you care about people getting out and doing these things (is meaningful),” Hicks said. “And it’s just something I like doing. I’m crafty.”
It takes no real special instruction or supplies other than paint, clear acrylic spray and modge podge, both of which can be found in local stores, she said. And, of course, rocks.
“It can be any rocks, it don’t have to be fancy or pretty rocks,” Hicks said. “Get your rocks, put them in bleach water, let them soak and get the crud off of them, let them dry. Then you spray them with this clear acrylic, and then you paint on them or put your stickers – because I’ve done stickers – and then you paint them with modge podge. … It goes on like Elmer’s glue, but it dries clear. … Then you spray it all again with the clear acrylic and then you can lay them out, and the paint will last.”
They travel a distance, too. Hicks said she and friends from the local TOPS chapter were planning a trip to Little Rock, Ark., and intended to “rock Little Rock” and every stop along the way.
Spreading those simple joys and hoping others find inspiration there too make it all the more worthwhile for Stevenson. Kindness and the feeling of connection – to know we are not alone in the world – are precious and desperately needed components of life. Stevenson said she’s incorporated the rocks into her everyday life to leave for others. She’s painted more than 600 since April, leaving them in places like her local senior citizens center or hospital. She said she always keeps small ones in her pocket to leave with her normal tip for service if she goes out to eat.
“Somebody that’s having a bad day, it’s just amazing how much just some little, small kindness like that can turn their day around, or at least give them a smile,” Stevenson said. “… It’s about paying a kindness forward, and putting a kindness out in the world. They always say, ‘No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.’ I’ve heard that said over and over again. And it’s really not, because even if no one ever finds your rock, you got a boost from painting it and putting the kindness out there.”
Perhaps more importantly, Stevenson said it was an easy activity in which to involve children which could serve them well. Many Florida area teachers were incorporating the rocks into their lessons, she said, making kindness gardens at schools in conjunction with their reading. The effort, she said, emphasized acceptance for everyone. It’s a valuable lesson to consider, Stevenson said.
“Teaching your kids to pay a kindness forward, to put a kindness out in the world is so important,” she said. “Teach them to be givers and not just takers.”
For more information about the Kindness Rocks Project, visit www.kindnessrocksproject.com. To learn more about getting involved locally, find Marshall County, Kentucky Rocks on Facebook.