Broken hearts and a lump of clay
I gave the very first Seeds of Happiness as personal gifts to friends that were experiencing a time of great sadness. I took some leftover lumps of clay and created the very first smiling seeds. They were a tangible reminder that I was thinking of them, and a reminder that they would find their smiles again. My friends carried these seeds with them for months. Later, they told me how meaningful my gift was and said I needed to start making more smiles to share.
That was in 2006. Since then, I’ve given out thousands of smiles to folks, often a handful at a time. Once those seeds leave my hands, something amazing happens. Those folks share their seeds when they meet someone in need of a smile. And so on, and so on, and so on.
As more people share seeds and the story card, a kindness revolution is taking shape. Every single day I receive stories from around the world about how Seeds of Happiness have made a big difference for both the givers and receivers. These stories make my heart sing.
It seems a lot of people need smiles these days and with the simple act of sharing a smile with a friend or stranger, you can join the kindness revolution.
With thanks from the bottom of my heart,
Mark Borella
The Seeds of Happiness Guy
"Be the Change" and share Seeds of Happiness
It started with a girl…
The seed that saved a life.
I was at an event when a stranger walked up to me. She was a young woman about 20 years old and she had somehow learned I was The Seeds of Happiness Guy.
She told me that when she was 16, she was thinking of killing herself. She had given up on life. She walked to a bridge and was trying to decide if she should jump. Suddenly, a car drove up, and a man jumped out, and said, “You look like you could use a smile.”
That was it. He got back in his car and drove away. She looked at the goofy, grinning seed in her hand and thought: This is a sign. She would be happy again. She would smile again. She decided to live. She walked home and told her parents how she was feeling. They took her to the doctor and got her the help she needed.
How we came to be in the same place at the same time, I’ll never know. How she figured out I was the Seeds of Happiness guy is still a mystery. As she told me this story, I broke down in tears. I told her she was here because of the stranger who gave her the seed. “No,” she said. “If you hadn’t made the seed, I wouldn’t be here today.” And with that she walked away.
In that moment, I realized the power of our community. With a simple act of kindness, my dear friends, YOU can make all the difference in the world.