By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
It’s been a year since Cathi Arcuri started a small art rock garden in front of the Harbor Connection Center on South Main Street.
Since she transformed the weedy plot under a lone tree into a colorful tapestry of rocks painted with positive affirmations, people have taken rocks and left rocks, just as her sign suggests.
Initially, the idea to leave painted rocks grew out of her appreciation for the tree and its beautiful canopy, which kept her van cool as it was parked in the accessible space next to the tree.
“The tree needed some joy,” Arcuri said at the time, and spreading joy and kindness has been part of her mission since a devastating automobile accident left her with spinal cord, vocal cord and traumatic brain injuries.
Her hope all along has been to plant seeds of positivity and brighten people’s day. She never expects any acknowledgement besides seeing rocks taken or new ones added.
However, an unidentified person stopped by the Connection Center recently and left a note intended for the person(s) responsible for the painted rock garden.
The card, cleverly designed with “You Rock” on the cover, started with the quote: “Kindness is the ability and desire to have a positive impact on others,” attributed to a Random Acts of Kindness activist.
The anonymous writer acknowledged the creativity and hard work that went into creating the “take a rock, leave a rock” display.
To Arcuri, the message was beyond a mere thank you.
The person disclosed they had quit a toxic job, lost everything and “felt so lost and alone.”
They started walking every afternoon to clear their mind and happened upon the rocks with messages that they had never seen before.
“Your rocks/rock trade pulled me out of a bad place mentally. You gave me something to look for every day, which is the motivation I really needed,” the message stated. Now they have found joy in painting rocks and adding them to the garden during their routine walks.
The note also asked that the display remains a permanent reminder in front of the building to help others “the way it helped me.”
“Not everyone can afford therapy, mental help, or even counseling, especially without insurance. But the happiness of your rock program trade is free to the community,” the writer explained. “You have no idea how many people you are helping… and saving.”
The note was the “first real recognition that the garden is making an impact,” Arcuri said. “I know people are taking and leaving rocks, but this message from one person validated that it is all worth it.”
Arcuri doesn’t need to know who wrote the card, but she thought an article in the BG Independent News might reach the writer to let them know the impact their card had as well.
“It was what I was hoping for all along, but I wasn’t expecting it, which made it all the more meaningful,” Arcuri said. “The rock garden is accessible and intended for the community, and for the tree.”
With other people stopping by to pick up rocks and leave rocks, the kindness tree is thriving, she added.
“The rocks outside are proof that something small can mean so much to someone,” the writer said. “You are impacting so many people every day, and I bet you don’t even know it!”
