The Porch Project {Spreading positivity and praise one porch at a time.}

So, the last time we talked I shared a bit of my heart with you and the questions that are constantly flowing, like waves, through my mind.

I introduced “The Porch Project” with you and want to share more about this new positivity spreading initiative.

You see, today is a day and age where the only things we usually find on our porch, or in our mailbox, are dreaded mortgage bills and paper flyers showing off all the latest gadgets that we cant seem to obtain because of said mortgage bill. Or, those dead mice your feline friend keeps gifting you with.

Long gone are the days of snail mail and birthday cards arriving to our door steps. I don’t even see our USP guy anymore, as he runs up our porch and quickly hangs the “sorry we missed you” note from the head office over our doorknob and scurries away before we have to make human contact with each other.

I miss the days of receiving a hand scrawled letter from a friend and I am sure you do too. 

Remember when you knew who had written you a letter because you knew their handwriting just from a glance?

The Porch Project is sure to help with those desires to know what our friends hand writing is like, to spread a little bit of positivity and to gain some in return.

So why The Porch Project?? 

This whole idea started forming in my mind years ago.

 My girlfriends and I started exchanging things via the front porch as a way to show that we remembered birthdays and special occasions. Sometimes it was impossible with nap schedules and work schedules and LIFE, to stop in for a coffee or a mid-day-bad-day-margarita, so the drop offs on the porch made total sence for all the business that is life.

A girlfriend turned thirty? Well then we left a gift bag full of things that would help her realize she was an old lady now and things that would make her giggle. A couple tea cups and saucers, a cheapy electric fan for the hot sweats she would most definitely be facing, a luggage tag for the trip she was planning with her husband to celebrate and other odds and ends. It never had to be much, it just had to be something that made her feel cared for and special. 

That same girlfriend delivered flowers on my door step, after a recent hospital procedure, along with the darlingest card of encouragement I have ever read. 

Another friend, who I exchange porch presents too, will sometimes drop off a big ole coffee and a top ten list of things I should remember that day. Encouraging things. Great things that she believes in me. Ten things, when I cant even think of one!

That is love.

We need more of that in our lives. 

We need to spread positivity, praise and pleasure with each other, with everyone.

 It is as good for us who give, as it is to receive. It does something to our souls and bonds us deeper then before, it encourages and brightens our days. It can be life changing to know that someone cares enough to take the time to just drop by a sticky note with the hash tag “#youareawesome” written on it. It does something to your weary heart when you check the paper taped to your front door that reads:

“You are beautiful. Inside and out. Your heart shines beauty and spreads it everywhere you go. Keep at it beautiful soul.”

Doesn’t that make you smile? Just reading that here? 

Now, imagine if you found that same note scrawled in a friends messy cursive, or in your husbands capital letter script, or in your mamas neat printing. 

It isn’t hard to spread positivity. It takes all of a few minutes and yet the effect stays in ones memory and lingers in their heart forever.

I love what Mark Twain said, “I can live on a compliment for six months.”

That quote resonates with me, it doesn’t take much and yet it makes all the difference to be reminded that you are beautiful, hard working, a great mama, a sweet friend, a lovely confidant or a positive presence.

My Mama always told me that if I wanted a friend, I had to show myself to be friendly.

I often thought, as most children do, that my mother had no idea what she was talking about, and then, then I started putting her concept to good use. 

I have learned that a little love spreads like wildfire into a heart and cant be contained there for long. You might be the wind that comes along and helps spread that fire from one heart to the next, or you might even be the first one that ignites that little spark in the first place, you wont know though, until you go out there and start showing yourself to be friendly, just like my Mama use to remind me to do.

This Porch Project is a challenge for me and a challenge for you. It is an initiative that hopefully we will all try out at least once. 

Think of a new friend, or an old friend, a colleague, or a girl you know from the gym, or that neighbour you sometimes wave at over winter snow banks, or that person in book club who you admire, or that friend of a friend that you seemed to “click” with that one time. 

Think of that person, and then do something.

If you are brave, and you chose to spread some positivity to a person you don’t know very well,  then you could always press on a little sticky note to their mail box, or their locker at wok or the gym, (if you dont know where they live, clearly.) Or you could write down an inspiring quote and share it with them as well.

If you are like me, and that is terrifying, then maybe just pick a friend in your life, drive by their house and drop of a funny acronym of their name, or a quick thank you card for that time they lent you their shoes you never returned them, or a little note saying how much you have been thinking of them, how much they inspire you or how great they are in whatever role they play. 

I am telling you, you cant go wrong with this. 

You will hear me say it once, and again and again: Positivity will always prevail. 

You might feel awkward at first doing things like this, but the person on the receiving end of your care, will benefit so much from you throwing your hesitation out the window, on the car ride by their house.

I have so many good ideas to share with you if you cant really think of how you could be a part of this summer project. I hope to share some examples with you soon. Until then, if you want to be a part, and this speaks to your giving heart somewhere, then just start. 

Pick a person and start spreading some positivity and praise through “The Porch Project.” If you are a social media type, then remember to tag #theporchproject too, so that others who want to participate can get ideas on how to spread the love this summer.

Now, go light that spark. 

#loveislikewildfire