EASTHAMPTON — Corinna Brundige dipped her brush into bright orange paint and began to draw a fish on a rock she had painted turquoise.
About two dozen rocks, some painted by Brundige, and others by her husband and her 9-year-old stepdaughter, lay on the floor to dry. They were painted in colors of blue, pink and orange. Some had pictures of flowers or cartoons. One simply said “you rock.”
Once the rocks are dry, Brundige, 32, owner of a heating and cooling company, goes around Easthampton, placing other rocks she has painted into nooks and crannies for people to find.
“There’s a lot of anger and hate in the world,” she said, adding that people see negativity daily in the news and on TV.
The rocks are a way to spread a little kindness in someone’s day, she said.
The Kindness Rock Project was started on Cape Cod by Megan Murphy, a life coach. Murphy, whose parents have both passed away, would take morning walks along a beach. She says on her website that she felt heart-shaped rocks and sea glass were signs to her from her deceased parents.
In April 2015, Murphy had an idea that would brighten the day for the people she often saw walking along the beach. She wrote on a few rocks with a sharpie and scattered them about as she walked.
The project grew from there and is now being promoted by Michaels craft stores. The company began selling rocks and holding events as part of a challenge to create one million Kindness Rocks.
The project has now made its way to Easthampton.
Brundige created a Facebook group called “Rocking Easthampton” earlier this month, and many have caught on. Maple Street School is also doing the project with students as its all-school theme on kindness.
On the Facebook page, some have shared their stories and hints for hiding places. And Brundige said she probably has painted about 100 rocks so far.
One person posted a photo of a rock she had picked up with “You are a star” on it. Then she found a note underneath, reading “Thank you. I really needed this today.”
Becky Rawson said in a message to the Gazette her 2-year-old son found a rock and she turned the moment into a lesson in kindness.
Rawson said she told him, “It’s our turn to hide it so someone else can find it and be as happy as we were.”
They went looking for the perfect spot, and when they did, Rawson said her son told her, “Mama, we nice — we make people happy.”
Rawson said the moment “melted my heart.”
Tiffany Reddy said in an email to the Gazette that she walked around the city with her son as well.
The first rock she came across was painted a light pink with gold stars. It said, “Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you will land among the stars.”
The quote was significant. Reddy said her father sent her the same quote in an email on the day of his passing.
“Thank you, kind stranger,” Reddy posted on Facebook. “We’ll definitely be creating some rocks of our own in the hopes of warming a few other hearts.”
It was one of the first rocks Brundige painted. It felt good, Brundige said, to see the little act made someone’s day.
“It’s really making people happier,” she said.
Caitlin Ashworth can be reached at cashworth@gazettenet.com.