A new movement to spread kindness has taken over Yazoo County in recent months, and residents are finding beautifully painted rocks in the most surprising places.
The kindness movement in Yazoo County began with the Facebook page, YazooMsPaintedRocks.
Lindsey Smith, a new resident of Yazoo County, originally from Mathiston, created the Facebook group in August of 2017. After seeing the kindness rock movement take hold in other cities and states, she decided to create a rock group just for Yazoo County.
"The purpose is to spread joy throughout our county by leaving kind and brightly colored messages on rocks in random places for others to find it so it would hopefully brighten their day," said Smith. "And it is also a way to give our kids something fun and new to do."
Smith said that the process she uses to paint rocks is very simple. Participants find rocks of all shapes and sizes, and wash them to remove all dirt and debris. Next, the person can use their own choice of paint, from acrylic and puffy paint, and even paint pens and markers to create a small masterpiece. Smith added that once the paint has dried, that the person should spray the rock with a clear coat to make it weatherproof. She also encouraged participants to make a final touch by adding the hashtag #YazooMsPaintedRocks somewhere on the new creation to encourage others to join the group on Facebook and to start sharing when they find or hide new rocks.
Over the last couple of months, the painted rock group has continued to grow in popularity.
"It started off slowly at first," said Smith. "The group now has 661 members, and we are having people join almost every day.”
Painted Rocks have been found or hidden in Yazoo County communities of Eden, Bentonia and Benton. Within Yazoo City, many rocks are often found along Main Street in Downtown Yazoo City, different gas stations and at Walmart.
Inside the Facebook group, members will often post a photo of a rock they have hidden, with a catchy hint to give rock-hunters a clue as to where they can be found.
"I think all of our members agree that it's always fun and exciting to find one when you least expect it," said Smith.
Smith said that she loves the joy the painted rock movement is bringing to kids and adults to be able to spread kindness though their tiny works of art. She added that some of the group members have even started to meet up in public places to paint rocks and share ideas.
"I would love to see the group grow even more," said Smith. "Our county is so big that there is a lot of potential for growth, especially with so many little known artists around here painting and hiding rocks."
Smith would like to thank everyone who has participated in the YazooMsPaintedRocks Facebook group, and encourages others to keep sharing the rocks they find, and to keep hiding more.
Smith said that with this combined effort, they can spread kindness within Yazoo County one tiny masterpiece at a time.
