A small rock with the shape of Texas painted on it was recently found in the Netherlands. A message on the bottom directed the finder to “Keep or Hide” and included the name of a website. The finder posted a picture and indicated that the rock would be hidden again.
How cool is that?
I first became aware of this trend during the pandemic when I was reading about ways people were sending positive vibes during social isolation.
About the same time, I ran across the Facebook page for Fort Worth Rocks!! and found that many people were painting messages and pictures on rocks and hiding them for others to find. When someone found a rock, they posted a picture of it and often included a comment about how finding it had brightened their day.
I began painting rocks and hiding them in plain sight so that people in my area of rural North Texas would find them. They were colorful yet simple, with words like smile, joy and sing.
And they were a big hit. Many of my neighbors still display their finds on their mailbox posts. One started a mini painted rock garden, and others use them as paper weights or mantel displays.
Megan Murphy of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is credited with starting the trend of hiding painted rocks. One day in 2015, she went to a beach seeking inspiration and wondered if others might also be there for that reason. So she began painting messages on rocks and leaving them for others to find. From that emerged the Kindness Rocks Project.
The trend spread worldwide. While many painted rocks continue to include words or messages, they increasingly include more artwork. But the overall objective hasn’t changed: to spread kindness. The hope is that finding a rock will brighten the finder’s day.
One of the most well-known locations in Texas is Parr Park Rock Art Trail in Grapevine. During the pandemic, resident Ron Olsen and his family painted 10 rocks and scattered them along the trail. The artwork began multiplying as other hikers added more. Thousands of rocks now line the path.
I visited the trail for my birthday, and it was worth the drive. The sheer number of painted rocks was almost unfathomable. One stone indicated the park had 24,459 painted rocks—a world record. Among rocks with Einstein’s face, the Beatles, realistic dogs and landscape scenes was a collection, each with a letter, arranged to spell out, “Will you marry me?”
International Drop a Rock Day is July 3. So get painting—and watch where you’re walking.
