Happiness Graffiti and 8 More Photos to Brighten Your Day
Sometimes you just need a little reminder that happiness is closer than you think. Maybe even right there on the sidewalk beneath your feet.
By Amy Shearn
The Joy That Comes with a Map
If you saw this on a city street, how could you resist going inside? Thousands of New Yorkers saw
The Mazeking's happiness circles in fall 2012 and stepped right in. As the artist told the blog
This Is Why I Love NY, "I want you to go inside your own self and find what’s truly profound about you, and be at peace about that."
Encouragement That Sticks
Cynthia Gray, the artist who created the "Don't Give Up" magnets, says that each time she gives one out, "the response from everybody is pretty much the same—a gasp, and then 'Hey, I really, really needed that.'"
For more reasons never to give up, go here.
An Uplifting Note from Down Below
If you're going to scratch something into drying concrete, why choose something generic like initials when you could tattoo the sidewalk with a message that will buoy up everyone who walks by? Photographer Vivienne McMaster strolled across this affirmation in her Vancouver neighborhood, which
she described on her blog as "kind of like a love bomb."
Drive-By Reassurance
Missy Steffens, of Raleigh, North Carolina, plays chalk-artist-slash-cheerleader on the sidewalk outside her house every day. She told me that recently a woman drove up and called out her window, "What's today's message? I don't want to miss it!"
Find more encouragement and inspiration here, at the
Sidewalk Revolution Facebook page!
A Day-Making Compliment, Every Day
Imagine my surprise when, getting off the subway on a rainy day, feeling frazzled and graceless and un-everything, I encountered this message. I took it very personally and skipped off into the rest of my day. Turns out, these
You Are Beautiful stickers have been brightening peoples' days all over the world for more than 10 years!
Chow Mein with a Side of Perspective
Because the food at this Chinese takeout place is not the greatest, I walked by it a million times and never really noticed the broken menu holder hanging crookedly on the door. When it finally caught my eye (as I was in the process of moving!), I thought, "Of course!" Whether it includes fluorescent sweet-and-sour-chicken or not.
The Secret You've Always Known
There's something wonderful about organized approaches to spreading joy. But there's something equally wonderful about the inexplicable ones. We don't know who wrote this, but man,
are we glad they did.
A Lasting Message in Temporary Ink
On an abandoned building about to be torn down,
Vivienne McMaster snapped a photo of this message right before it got painted over: a reminder to embrace our truest selves
and that everything, all of this, is so very fleeting.
The Love That Materializes in the Street
Once you start looking for sidewalk wisdom and random affirmations, the universe seems to start offering them up all the time. Particularly when you need them most. X's and O's from ribbons strewn hither and thither on a windy day? Yes, please, world. Thank you. xo.
Next: 10 lab-tested ways to bring out the best in people
Published 03/27/2013
