Friday, 15 February 2013

Random Acts of Love ~ 14 February 2013

I just had to tell you all about what I, and over a thousand others acomplished yesterday.
A Facebook group called Random Acts of Love, thought up by Lucy Axton & Kristen Clark thought it would be a lovely idea to create an event, to brighten up people's days by randomly leaving small gifts, notes and cards in strategic places all over the country on Valentines Day.
Attached to them were little notes, informing the people that they had been chosen to receive a random act of love, and for them to please pay the love forward, or pass the love on, to whoever they met. (I don't think they realised just how big it was going to get lol)
Some gifts were hand made little hearts and cards, others were little purchased gifts. Some of us baked while others sewed and created; but everything was done with love!
I filled organza bags with a couple of Rose Quartz tumblestones, a Green Moss Agate heart, a little red metal heart, and a couple of stuffed patchwork hearts I found at my local garden centre.
I should have stopped there really but I got so excited by this idea, I bought a few packs of fizzy Love Hearts, and a couple of packs of chocolate hearts as well. I ended up with 14 little love gifts, their little notes attached, all ready to take to Norwich where I was to randomly place for people to find.

I awoke to galeforce winds and lashing rain against my windows, but was that going to put me off? No it wasn't!, I was determined to go whatever the weather! Just getting ready for the off when i got a text from hubby telling me that there were no trains into Norwich from Lowestoft and Yarmouth due to flooding at Brundall Gardens. I really felt downheartened by this, having no other way to get there. I checked the live departures website and it said trains were running. I thought I would go to the station anyway, having a back up from a lovely friend who said she would come and pick me up if the trains were cancelled (Thanks Sam) I walked to the station and felt the rain and winds easing a little, and to my delight, the trains were running, albeit a bit slow, andI could get to Norwich after all.

I left my first gift undercover inside the waiting area. Afew minutes later, a couple came along and went in there only to walk past and ignore the gift as if it was invisible. It dawned on me then, that this was not going to be such an easy task as I had first thought. Maybe we as a nation find it hard to accept gifts from strangers, and that we are not worthy of such things. Just a thought.

We all boarded the train and headed off to Norwich. I left a gift on the seat as I left the train (that was easy as I was the last one off)
I left my third gift in the coffee bar on a table and headed to Riverside. By this time the rain had stopped so walking was a lot easier. I wandered around the shops but realised that I couldn't really leave them inside the shops for fear of the people finding them being accused of shoplifting, so had a re-think.
My next gift drop was in Argos, beside the browsing section, and then off for a well earned coffee and a bite to eat in Costa Coffee. I left the little green crystal heart on a table as I walked past, got my lunch and lovely mocha, and sat down where i could see the reaction of people.

Some people gave it a glance and sat at another table, others picked it up and read the label, then placed it back on the table. Not quite the reaction I was expecting. Eventually someone sat at the table and I hope, accepted my little gift in the spirit it was meant. I left another gift on the table where I had sat and quietly left.
Off to Morrisons to get some shopping, I left one gift on the free taxi phone, and another in the shopping trolly park in an empty trolly. Just as I was leaving, I saw a lovely bicycle with a basket on the front. The basket had been decorated with lovely little pink roses and was crying out for a gift to be left there, so I obliged lol. That is when the sun came out as well.

On my walk back to the station, I left a gift on the car park ticket station machine, and one in the station's ladies loo, by the soap dispenser.
Having three little gifts left, I boarded the train and left a packet of chocolate hearts on the table to the right of me.
Settling in my seat, I was feeling very happy with what I had acomplished.  A young girl came along and sat at the table with the gift on; she asked if she was on the right train, and I said yes (as it happened we were both on the wrong train, but that is a different story lol) She kept looking at the gift on the table beside her, while i was secretly willing her to pick it up, My covert powers of persuasion must have worked because she picked it up, looked at me and read the label out loud to me, finishing up with "do you think I can trust these chocolates?" I replied that of course she could, and what a lovely gesture that was. Totally out of the blue, she asked if I would like a chocolate heart and I was overjoyed that she wanted to share them with me.She told me that she did not have a valentine this year, so this had made her feel loved and very happy. It was then that the announcement came that we were all on the wrong train, so all had to move to the one in front.

The girl sat a few seats up from me, and when the ticket man came round, she shared a heart with him, telling him her story and making him smile too. I must admit it made my trip to Norwich very worthwhile, and i felt all warm and fuzzy inside. As I left the train, I left a gift tied to the driver's door, and my last one on a seat on the platform. I looked across to see if the first gift had been taken, and was pleased to see it had gone.

When I got home and logged on, I read all about other people's stories of their random acts of love, and I felt so blessed to have been part of this lovely gesture of kindness.
This morning, I saw a post on the group's page that someone had found my gift left in Argos, and that made me smile all over again.
These are my Random Acts of Love - Distributed around Norwich Station & Riverside


A little poem for the blog

3 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you included a pic of your little gifts, what a lovely little pile of love they make!

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  2. Fantastic, I'm so pleased you got out of it what you hoped to.

    Xx

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