Summertime Surprise Project

I'm a big fan of little gestures. I love the small, simple things that stop us in our tracks for a second and remind us of man's capacity for grace and of all the goodness that exists in the world: random acts of kindness and spontaneous loving of our neighbours as ourselves.   When I read about Capture By Lucy's Surprise Project, which is all about "doing something nice, just because. Something kind, thoughtful and all for a stranger. .. About celebrating all that is good about the connections we make on the internet," it ticked all of my boxes and I knew I had to get involved.

The basic premise is that of a swap project: sign up with your name, address and a few little facts about yourself; be partnered with a stranger elsewhere in the country; put a little package together for them and pop it in the post. It's like Secret Santa.. but with strangers.. and without the holiday - giving something lovely, just because.

Rather than spending money on expensive gifts, the focus is on being thoughtful and creative and extending kindness to your partner. I got paired up with a girl called Kim - a nurse down in England-shire - and really enjoyed taking the time to gather and put together all the elements of her parcel. I handed it over to the ever-faithful Royal Mail and we both received each others boxes on the same day, ready for the big unwrapping on July 26th!

I was very touched by the generosity of my gift and the fact that she'd paid close attention to the notes I gave about myself, especially in acknowledging my fondness for nature (and coffee!). There's something quite moving about the idea of a total stranger investing their time, effort and pennies in putting together something that they hope will bring you joy. My parcel really brightened up an otherwise-difficult Sunday and I keep smiling every time I spy an item on one of their various shelves. I hope that my gift might have brought a moment of brightness to Kim, too. 

Looking at all the photos tagged with #summertimesurpriseproject is a brilliant reminder of all things good and lovely in the world and I'm so glad I was able to be involved in the project. There are promises of an autumn swap in a few months time and I would definitely recommend keeping an eye on the website and signing up.

Big thanks to Kim and Lucy for bringing some sunshine to my day!

xo