Submitted by Victoria Cunningham
On April 14 at 1:00 p.m. at the Olympia Farmers Market circle in downtown Olympia, a group of smiling people wearing bright yellow shirts will be Sprinkling Happiness.
Created by Laura Lavigne, founder of the Anacortes Center for Happiness, The Happiness Sprinkling Project is “crazy simple and crazy powerful.”
A group of people get together, wearing bright yellow shirts. They gather at a busy spot in the town where they live. They hold up signs. Happiness signs. Signs that say things like, It’s Going to be All Right and Breathe and You are Loved. They do this for an hour and as they do, magic happens. People being ‘sprinkled’ on their way home from work are surprised, puzzled – and moved. They smile, they wave, they honk.
Many join in and start Sprinkling themselves. The messages are surprising because “they ask nothing of the viewer” but instead send an expected burst of light, helping people tap into their own hope, strength and joy.
The Sprinklings started in May 2012 and have been spreading like well… happiness, and have been received with a mix of surprise, delight and occasionally tears of emotion.
“This is the most amazing project I have ever been a part of.”
“The event was the happiest, most heart-centered day of my life thus far”
“24 hours later and I’m still smiling! Slept like that. My face may be stuck.”
“Happiness Sprinkling is more than an event…its a lifestyle.”
“I don’t know when I have had more fun…”
In the past six years, Happiness Ambassadors have popped up in Washington DC, in
Chicago, California, Oregon, Seattle, Canada, Los Angeles, Florida, Indiana, Grand Cayman and Canada. Together they are gradually building a “Happiness Sprinkling Tribe” whose vision to expand all over the world is happening.
The Happiness Sprinkling Project has now held events in the UK, Germany, and South Africa.
As of two years ago, many Sprinklings have taken places in schools around the country, with educators reporting tremendous results.
This growing movement is building a web of Happiness Ambassadors and Happiness Sprinklers and changing the world one gathering at a time. One of the powerful aspects of this event is that the sets of Signs get shipped from one Ambassador to the next, thus forming a global “Happiness chain letter,” adopting a very simple Pay It Forward concept.
The Happiness Sprinkling Project has been featured on the GoodNews Network, DailyGood.org, NBC, CBS News, The Huffington Post, Ellen DeGeneres’ blog, as well as the TEDx platform.
“This is my third Happiness Sprinkling that I’ve sponsored in Olympia, and the response is always incredible – people need this and they love seeing such positive signs and smiling faces,” Victoria Cunningham said.
“Many come up to us with tears in their eyes thanking us for making their day. It’s just a very powerful tool in today’s world to affirm that there is love and kindness and happiness in our world,” she said.
Anyone is invited to join in and participate in this powerful and FUN event! You can reach Founder Laura Lavigne at laura@happinesssprinklingproject.org or 360-421-1618
