Chalk is Cheap

When you are depressed, you feel like one of the Lilliputians. You feel six inches tall, but instead of trapping Gulliver- you feel trapped. You are bogged down by your own thoughts and feelings, and it is hard to break free. There are moments when you think that it would all be easier if you just didn’t exist. If you killed yourself all the strife of the world would fade away. You wouldn’t have to feel like you don’t matter, you wouldn’t have to force yourself to get up in the morning and go through the motions. It would be so easy.

Life has been a bit rough for me lately, and I have had those thoughts. They weren’t formed thoughts, or thoughts I intend to act on, but they popped into my mind all the same. Just stray thoughts that I stomped on but… Wouldn’t it just be easier? Wouldn’t that solve all my problems? Wouldn’t that set me free?

Easier. That’s what we want right? For life to be easy. Except, life isn’t easy. That would be pretty boring, don’t you think? Life is a beautiful chaos that swirls around us and sometimes kicks us right in the face and sometimes brings us cheesecake with caramel drizzle. Life is not meant to be easy, at least not all the time. We would be robots- beep boop beep- wandering through life with no fire, no passion, no inspiration. Easy is for automatons who want nothing more out of life than just to function. That’s not me and let’s face it, it’s not anyone.

Right now, I am looking for work, and it is not going all that well. Either I am too educated or not educated enough. What I really want is to write. Maybe I could be a blogger, and I definitely want to try my hand at books-but boy is that hard to get going. I don’t have a job and at the moment I’m living at my mom’s house. This does not help me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Sometimes, it makes me feel like I don’t matter. Understand, I have support and I have people that love me, but it doesn’t change the fact that sometimes I feel small and unimportant. I feel like I am tied up and in shackles, but I think I found a key. Would you believe that my key was a piece of chalk?

Before we explore the wonders of chalk- I would like to take this opportunity dear reader, to let you know that YOU MATTER. There is hope and beauty in the world. You are awesome, also have an amazing day. If you needed to hear that- I’m glad. I need to hear it sometimes too. If you didn’t need to hear that, I bet it made you smile anyway. Admit it, you’re still smiling right now, aren’t you?

Smiling and rolling your eyes no doubt wondering about how this mysterious piece of chalk was the key to my captivity and wanting me to get on with it already. Here it is- I have been going on rambling walks in my city mostly on bike paths and I have been taking chalk with me. I began by writing the simple phrase: “You Matter,” wherever I went. I write other phrases now, positive things, like “hope” and “be kind” and “just keep swimming." It has become a project for me, and I call it Project: You Matter.

I hope that others will take up this chalk challenge. Chalk is cheap, so get out there and start motivating people. Write “you matter” on one surface and who knows how many people you can touch. To that end, I have been leaving chalk out where I can with the message “spread hope,” (I also write you matter and other positive things near by so people get the idea).

If you decided to get your chalk and make a difference, please take a picture and post on the twitter page (or Instagram) @projectumatter1 or if you have something you would like to say to others who need to hear it feel free to post it there.

It makes me smile just thinking about it and whenever I see one of these chalk messages, I grin like a loon. I hope it brings joy to others as well, that’s the point really. It occurred to me that I am not the only one that feels insignificant, that feels alone and anxious sometimes. If one person who needed to hear it sees one of my messages, it is worth it! By spreading the message that people matter, that there is hope in the world, I am giving myself hope too. A piece of chalk that I had just lying around has given me freedom. The freedom to make a difference, the freedom to try to help others, and the freedom to simply be me.

If you are interested in joining Project: You Matter here are some guidelines-

• First off, I don’t write on any fences or personal property.

• I write on public sidewalks, on the tunnel walls, on tables at public parks etc. I really like writing messages on surfaces that have graffiti on them-take that hateful message!

• As for the messages start with “you matter” and move on from there. Do you want to remind people about peace, do you want people to know they are worth it? Whatever floats your boat, so long as it is a positive message! That’s pretty much it guys.