Local woman sparks international movement with thousands of followers ... using Facebook
By Kyra Hoggan
Castlegar’s own Holly Smee is stunned and delighted to have garnered the support of more than 10,000 people just days after launching a Facebook campaign in response to recent tragedy.
Smee, a 34-year-old mental health worker, said she got the idea on the same morning that a school shooting spree took the lives of 20 elementary-school children in Conneticut, while a mass stabbing in China at almost the exact same time saw 22 school-aged children injured. All this, while the news and Facebook gleefully tout what some believe the Mayan calendar predicts as Armageddon (there’s some debate as to whether the world is slated to end on Dec. 21 or 23, but either way, believers say we’re all toast soon).
“There’s so much sadness going on right now –I’m seeing it on a daily basis,” she said. “So I got thinking – What could change things? What can I, personally, do that would be both simple and profound?”
Inspired, Smee created a Facebook event called Dec 21st Kindness Day (https://www.facebook.com/events/234530483345681/). She invited all her friends, and asked them to invite people, too.
To her great shock, there have now been 83,160 people invited, with 10,147 people who’ve joined (as of 7:15 p.m. Dec. 20). There are also 843 “maybes”, which appears to indicate some confusion as to the locale – anyone can participate anywhere, by engaging in a single act of kindness. It’s not an actual gathering.
Even more stunning, to Smee, is how global the event has become – those who’ve joined represent every continent on the planet, with the single exception of Antarctica.
Here is how she describes the event on its Facebook page:
“Given all the hype about this day and the sadness many are experiencing on a global level, please feel free to join and share my event with all you know.
“On December 21st, we ask that you pay forward at least one act of loving, random, and unexpected kindness to a friend, family member, stranger, animal….. it can be small, even opening doors for strangers or offering smiles and does not have to demonstrate monetary value.
“By participating, you demonstrate your willingness to be part of a social movement that acts with intention and mindfulness to create a better life on earth. We hope that you demonstrate kindness everyday but December 21st will be a day to extend beyond that as part of a collective conscientiousness.
“Please take a moment to select join if you’d like to participate and if you’re overwhelmed with notifications (lots of activity going on here lol) then you can turn notifications off by selecting the drop down arrow on the top right, next to the thing that looks like a spiky wheel.
“’Be the change you want to see in the world’ ~ Mahatma Gandhi”
Smee said the impact on her own life has been staggering – she said she notices more, how kind she is in her everyday life, and how often small kindness are offered her by others.
“Is it more than it used to be, or is it just that I’m taking the time to notice it; that I’m more aware?” she said. “I don’t know, but either way, I know it’s changed how I feel.
“Getting 10,000 people to commit to a day of awareness, intention, mindfulness – I really believe it’s going to go out there and people are going to pick up on it,” she said. “I really believe in the collective unconscious, the butterfly effect, the 100th ape theory (for more information on these, visit the Kindness Day Facebook page and scroll down). Once you reach that critical mass, anything can happen.”
Religious and political leaders, celebrities, peacekeepers from as far away as Russia, Afghanistan, Southeast Asia and Australia are all coming on board – and all this has happened in less than a week, after a quick 15-minute effort from a Castlegar resident who simply wished to counter all the bad news with something more hopeful.
“It’s been very, very cool – I’m so happy that I did it,” Smee said. “If everyone were kind every day, or at least tried to be kind every day, this will be a much better place to live.”
So what happens tomorrow, when the event is slated to end?
“I haven’t really announced this yet, but I think I’ll change the date to Dec. 21, 2013,” Smee said. “I’d love to see how far this can go.”
Again, the website address to join is https://www.facebook.com/events/234530483345681/
