Sisterhood of the Traveling Rock

This blog about my random acts of kindness brings me great joy every week. It motivates me to escape the technical nature of my career path (I am planning to become an engineer if I have not mentioned that) and experience something that comes from my heart rather than my mind. These acts of kindness connect me to my community and help me relate to others on campus who I may never get the opportunity to interact with. However, as I write this blog week after week, my goal is always the same: I want to motivate others to do just as I am doing. I want to persuade others to connect with their community, reach out, and do something kind for their neighbors. Although not technical in nature, I want to advocate for a policy of kindness. You may ask, though, how would I ever know? Many of you may be completing random acts of kindness each week just as I have, and I am appreciative of those of you who are, and I ask those of you who have not yet completed an act of kindness to do so.

While I was home on spring break, I got to spend some quality time with my parents before I left for a vacation to Florida. I had not been home since the end of winter break back in January, so I was very excited to reconnect with my parents, pets, and one of my two brothers. 

Smudge (also know as the Guard Cat and the Prince)

Rocket (also known as Velcro and the Rug)

My parents and I spent all day Saturday running errands and spending time together. After getting to finally sleep in and eating lunch, we piled into the car went to the mall. We spent a few hours walking up and down the mall and window shopping when we ran into one of my high school teachers. I'm pretty sure we talked to her for at least an hour. When we finally stopped talking, I realized I was starving. We went to one of my favorite restaurants for dinner, Pizza Grille. We had a delicious meal (even though the service was terrible), but the important part did not come until we were leaving.

As we were leaving, a small rock on a side table caught my eye. I must not have noticed it on the way in because I was STARVING. On the top, it read "Believe you can," and on that back there was a note. It said, "Post to FB @ Mechanicsburg PA Rocks. Keep or Re-Hide. Enjoy!!!" 

Believe you can!

Sharing the love!

SO OTHER PEOPLE ARE DOING RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS JUST LIKE ME. I was kind of, just a little bit, entirely, overly super excited. I was so appreciative that other people were spreading the kindness in communities near my home. The rock called to me ("Lucy. Lucy!! Pick me up. Take me home. Do it for the kindness. Doooo itttttt.") So of course I took the rock. 

I debated taking the rock to Florida with me on spring break, but it seemed like the perfect opportunity to share with my community in State College. I mean, it called me. So, I packed up my rock with about ten pounds of dirty clothes, a mother load of snacks, and all the other junk I thought I would need for the next eight weeks of school. Once I got to school, I was so happy to be back (ugh I'm disgusting I know) that I forgot about my rock!

Monday night after I came home from three classes and a four-hour chemistry lab (I die a little each week), I was finishing unpacking my stuff and I pulled out my rock! Just this small rock reminded me that there is good in this world and I was going to make it through this. This reminder just drove home what I wanted this rock to represent: hope and kindness for my community. I took my rock (although now I felt a personal connection to it and did not really want to give it away) and sat it on my desk so that I could find the perfect spot for it the next morning. 

I scoped out the perfect spot and decided that I would place my rock in the place where I do a lot of my work: the first floor of Atherton. There is a hallway with high top tables and barstools that I have cried on, napped on, drooled on, eaten on, etc. (my experiences probably exceed your imaginations). I figured that if I experienced my struggles down here, someone else who needed my rock did too. I placed my rock and wished it a hopeful goodbye. 

Can you spot the rock?

This blog is not meant to brag about how good of a person I am; there's much more to character than just completing a random act of kindness once a week. What it is about is sharing the love. In our social climate today, I think there are many times that we focus on the negative aspects of our condition. What we have to remember is how much good there is in this world. My hope is that those who experience my random acts of kindness will experience the good and feel a little better about their position in this life. My ultimate goal is for the readers of this blog and those who get to experience random acts of kindness to spread the love. Spread it far and wide and remind all of those around you that this world is good, we are capable of doing good deeds, and love still exists. Take a look at your life; would a little more love hurt?