CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A Brantford, Ont., man said his wish is that everyone would make it a regular habit to overwhelm someone with an act of kindness.
Aaron Creery and his family are randomly leaving specially-painted rocks in places on P.E.I., like parks, as a simple act of kindness.
Creery is in Charlottetown this week with his wife and children visiting family, but the Creery’s are also part of a group that calls itself the Brantford Painted Rocks on Facebook.
Its members' sole objective is to spread happiness and put a smile on people’s faces.
Each rock is meticulously hand-painted with an image, such as a lighthouse, along with a message.
Messages range from “With love from Ontario’’ and “Dance as if no one is looking’’ to “Difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations’’, “Root for each other’’ and “Hope’’.
On the back of each rock, the finder is asked simply to re-hide the rock or keep it. They're also asked to post a photo on the Facebook page and say hi.
Creery even had one painted specifically for Mayor Philip Brown, which he hoped to present to the mayor at City Hall.
Creery told The Guardian he knows this isn’t exactly major news, but he hopes that anyone who finds one of these rocks will turn around and paint one themselves and leave an inspiring message for someone else, someone who may need a pick-me-up.
“It’s to bring joy to families,’’ Creery said. “It’s to get families to be more connected, to do activities together as a family and to (help them) stay off those tablets and their phones as much as possible.
“A lot of people are losing sight of family connections and the importance of love and being connected together as a family.’’
