Do Yourself a Favor: Be Kind!

I don’t know about your experience with Parkinson’s, but I can tell you that I occasionally wonder if I am concentrating too much on myself. While it is important to keep my medication and exercise schedules, which requires thinking about myself daily, I find that I think less about my Parkinson’s and feel better about my life when I am doing things for others.

Again, I don’t know about you but I have been fortunate to be the recipient of kind words and acts over the years. I fully believe in being kind to others, particularly in light of not knowing what burden a person may bear on that given day. Kindness has encouraged me. In fact, I think kindness rocks, which leads me to wonder whether you are aware of such things as kindness rocks.

What are kindness rocks?

I learned about them several years ago by way of a local rock painting and hiding group, Big Country Rocks. Then I went to the web and found The Kindness Rocks Project and identified with the mission statement: “One message at just the right moment can change someone's entire day, outlook, life.” This made me think of my students, the people in our Parkinson’s support group, neighbors, and the community at large. Don’t we all deserve encouraging words? Yes, we do. Could something as simple as a painted rock help a person with Parkinson’s (PwP) feel less isolated and perhaps encourage them to reach out? Why, yes, it can.

Doing more research on kindness rocks

This sent me looking for more information and I found the Facebook group for Big Country Rocks. Their goal is to “spread happiness, love, and inspiration through the simple gesture of painting rocks and ‘hiding’ them throughout the community for people to find. This is a community-building group meant to inspire creativity in all ages.”

Do PwP benefit from creative endeavors? Absolutely! In fact, it is not uncommon for Parkinson’s meds to unleash creativity, which in turn can help you better live with Parkinson’s. Creative endeavors have actually been shown to stimulate dopamine production.¹ Win-win!

As my curiosity grew, I checked for kindness rock groups in other states. Yep, they are there! I was now fully intrigued by this whole rock painting thing and looked for a how-to book and free online tips. Here is what I learned. There are many books available and many ideas on Pinterest. It is easy to get started today.

How to get started with creating kindness rocks

You can purchase as many water-based craft paints as you want or need and select several brush sizes for different types of work (broad to fine-tipped). A fine or extra-fine Sharpie is good to write on the back of the rock. It’s highly recommended to spray or brush a protective finish on rocks before placing them outdoors. Many types of finish are available; I use a Krylon spray varnish or Mod Podge. Then, of course, you need rocks.

I start with a 3-5” rock that is relatively smooth and is a size that fits the picture or words I want to paint. You may pick up a rock outdoors if you live in an area that has rocks and permits them to be taken. Otherwise, you buy them, which is what I do. I take an empty five-gallon bucket to a local stone business and fill it for a very inexpensive price. I have also seen rocks at gardening and hobby stores and once bought some shiny black stones. I quickly learned that the acrylic paints won’t adhere very long, if at all, to the polished surface.

Next, I use dish soap and water to clean the rock before rinsing it and letting it dry. Then I decide whether I’ll give the rock to someone or hide it out in the community in order to decide what to paint.

I write my initials and the year on the back of a rock. This is typically all I write on a rock I will gift to someone. I will add “Post a pic to Big Country Rocks on FB - Keep or re-hide” or “Look up Kindness Rocks on FB - Keep or re-hide” on rocks I plan to hide. Perhaps I should add that “hide” might better be written as “hide in (somewhat) plain sight.” Your area may have guidelines for where you should not hide rocks like inside a store, on a food buffet, or near a TSA screening area.

Kindness + rocks = feeling good

So, there you have it. I hope you find some joy in this simple task. I know you will reap many rewards from speaking kind words and taking kind actions to help others, which in turn helps you. Parkinson’s may get the last word at some point in time, but not right now.