If you haven’t heard of the group Northeast Ohio Rocks! then you should check them out on Facebook. This group is all about spreading kindness. It’s a simple concept and is brightening the day of many who randomly find hidden rocks. I discovered the group because I found a rock. It was a painted rock, painted to look like a minion, it was cute. I picked it up and on the other side of the rock was a label instructing what to do. So my first reaction was to smile, it made my day! Then I took it home where it sat on the coffee table for a few weeks. I researched the group. I looked at the rock every day, I thought about the time it took the creator to paint it, what a nice thing to do for a perfect stranger. And it worked, it made my day.

Everyone who participates in the group does so voluntarily. The idea is to post a picture of the rock you find and then re-hide it for someone else to find, thus spreading the kindness even further. But the work that goes into the painting of these rocks is amazing. You can get instructions and advice on the group page. But seriously, check out the photos of all the rocks, they are truly masterpieces! And a lot goes into priming them, and finishing them so they are weatherproof. The most amazing part of it all, the only reason for doing it, to make someone’s day.

Ideally, the finder will take a photo of the rock and post it on the group page. I did that, then re-hid the rock. When you think of all the effort that goes into the rock painting it’s the least you can do. Then you watch and wait for the rock to hopefully reappear. Some have followed their rocks to faraway places, others stay nearby, but they all make someone’s day. Imagine that, there’s actually people who want to do something kind for a complete stranger, with only the hope that they will someday see a photo of their rock again. If they do not, that’s OK because all that matters to this group is the spreading of kindness. This is a group that I want to be part of.