There was about 15 of us folks chalking in front of the downtown Berkeley BART station. We started with about ten adventurers and as the momentum increased, we gained more energy, creative inspiration, and people. In the beginning, many pedestrians stopped by us, paused briefly out of curiousity, and for the most part remained rather perplexed by our so-called 'deviant' behavior. However, after we chalked up some cheerful colors and phrases on the beautiful red stones in the area, people came over just to take a peek and see what adults chalkers really do.
Folks came by with cameras. Small children pointed at us and tugged the hands of their parents to have them take a look. This one particular man in a suit came out of the station, appearing as if he had had an exhausting day. Yet, he managed to trudge a bit closer to us to read the writing on (well, not the wall), but yes the floor. Our eyes met, so I wanted to connect. I proceeded to ask him how his day was going? He said it was good but it had just gotten better. He had a huge smile on his face as he looked beneath his feet. He was seeing and reading and smiling all at the same time! So I asked him to join us. The natural conditioned response of most people passing by, including him was, "no no, I don't have time but thank you and this is wonderful what you all are doing. Thank you so much." We were about to part and so I left him with a choice and mentioned, "well its up to you."
About 15 minutes later, I looked up and he was still around, almost mesmerized by the art. He had talked to someone on the phone, and I surmised that perhaps he was changing his plans for the evening. He then came over, with his change of heart, and said,
"you know, I think I do have a message after all."
I gave him some chalk and he wrote down his own beautiful message. Now, what is yours? Grab a piece of chalk and spread the chalking spirit today!
- Posted by beemedha
- Aug 16, 2009
- Comments (19)
Readers Comments
That's also a fun thing to do on the sidewalk in front of the school with the kids...to surprise the kids as they start a new year of school.
We drew flowers and of course rainbows and smileys :0) ~Aurelia
Thank you for the excellent idea!
Smiles
