Creating unexpected moments of happiness. That’s the driving force behind our annual Heart + Soil Day every September at Lycored, and it worked its magic again for us this year with our Seeds of Positivity event.
It all started on Valentine’s Day when we took our mission to the streets of Brooklyn, New York, and invited unsuspecting passers-by to stop and crank our positivity generator while thinking about things that filled them with gratitude. As they cranked, the generator projected heart-warming, inspiring messages onto the Manhattan Bridge Overpass—transforming a cold, dark evening into one filled with love and light.
Attendees cranked the wheel while focusing on positive thoughts for a healthier, happier planet. Courtesy of Lycroed.
We couldn’t let such an awesome device languish, unused, for too long, so we decided to bring it back out for Heart + Soil Day 2022 on September 26. At the start of the week, we invited anyone near our offices in Branchburg, New Jersey, to crank it upwhilefocusing on positive thoughts about what they’d like to see happen for a healthier, happier planet. And then we took all that energy and positivity and used it to power a big surprise for people visiting the nearby Reeves Reed Arboretum.
The jet-black monolith is 7-ft tall. Courtesy of Lycored.
Just picture the scene: you’re strolling through the glorious 13-acre park and gardens in the warm autumn sunshine when you suddenly spot a jet-black monolith, seven feet tall, looming incongruously out of the trees and shrubs. Could it be related to the mysterious “wandering monoliths” that popped up in late 2020 in Utah, California, New Mexico, and Romania? You’re compelled to go over and try to figure out what it is—and why it is. And as you draw closer, it springs to life, glowing red and dispensing a little packet of marigold seeds. Even more intrigued, you flip it over to find an invitation for you to plant them and spread some leafy love for our earth and community.
And your day suddenly and unexpectedly feels warmer and brighter.
Watching it all happen from my seat on a nearby park bench (from where I just might have been helping the process along through the magic of a remote-control wand), I was soaking in the smiles and laughter as people’s curiosity turned to delight.
One delighted woman enjoys getting her marigold seeds. Courtesy of Lycored.
It was a wonderful, powerful and humbling experience to be involved in something that generated so much positivity.
And our Heart + Soil events aren’t just confined to our New Jersey locality—they involve all our teams around the world. Except that for the first time in the seven years we’ve been celebrating Heart + Soil, our Ukraine team couldn’t take part. In previous years they’ve built a play park in the town where they operate, renovated a dispensary that provides medical assistance to people in a village with no hospital access, and donated a screen and projector to the local library. Last year, at the height of lockdown, they put their construction skills to excellent use by adding a rope park to the play area so local children could enjoy much-needed fresh air, outdoor fun, and escape from the pressures of life in the pandemic.
But now, in a war zone, it just wasn’t feasible for them to be involved in Heart + Soil. As a company and a community, we are simply thankful that they are safe and feeling the love we’re generating for them and the wider world.
So our thoughts were with them in here in the US, where our Branchburg team planted flowers used in our products outside the office, creating a Lycored logo-shaped flowerbed to bring a pop of color to the neighborhood, and then turned photographs of it into postcards for sharing loving messages with people at a nearby shelter. And in Israel, where our colleagues helped gather in the harvest at a local farm which encourages disadvantaged young people to work and build up their confidence through the life-affirming experience of nurturing fruit and vegetables. And over in Switzerland, where our team were brightening up the day for elders in a residential home with marigolds, autumn crafting, coffee and cake, and heartfelt conversation.
This is what Heart + Soil Day is all about—connection, celebration, gratitude, and love.
If you want to create your own Heart + Soil Day, “seas” the opportunity by opening up this link. It’s a wonderful little Instagram filter created by our frequent collaborator, Steve Wheen, aka The Pothole Gardener, who turned unsightly holes in the road and cracks in the sidewalk into miniature gardens for Heart + Soil Day 2018.
So here’s what you do—just take a photo of a puddle on your cell phone, and the filter will add in a little lighthouse, transforming something that’s often seen as ugly or not even noticed into a moment of reflection and connection with nature. Reminding us that beauty and joy can spring up in the most unlikely places.
RSS
