It all started with a piece of found art. Danika Laine took the good feeling that resonated from the serendipitous find — nearly twenty years later — and turned it into a kindness movement.
The concept? Make a bouquet and leave it for a stranger to find.
Danika talks more about why and how she started For the One Who Finds Me.
How did the idea for For the One Who Finds Me come to life and how did you make it happen?
During college, I discovered a piece of found art and the concept just blew me away. My whole day was made by the idea that someone left a little bit of artwork with the intention that a stranger would discover it. I held on to that feeling and concept for nearly twenty years. After going through a painful breakup, I was feeling down and decided that maybe trying something artistic and kind might lift my spirits. I had an image in my head: What if someone walked into an elevator and found a small bouquet of flowers with a note that said, “If you find this, it’s for you”? I tried out a few bouquets like this and the idea caught on, with everything being documented on social media! That was four years ago and now hundreds and hundreds of bouquets have been placed by literally hundreds of people all over the world.
To the best of your knowledge, how far has the project reached?
The project began in Madison, Wisconsin, and bouquets have popped up as far away as the Netherlands, Ireland and even Australia!
What’s your favorite flower?
I swoon for dahlias — I want to grow zillions of them when I retire someday. They’re so geometric and bright. I first encountered them while visiting Seattle and I have been mesmerized ever since. Parrot tulips with the fringy petals are a close second.
How has For the One Who Finds Me benefitted you personally?
I benefit every day! I get to see the bouquets other people around the world are finding and creating because photos come in through the website, Facebook page and Instagram account. It’s a daily reminder of something that has become my mantra in this stressful and scary world: There are brave and loving people all around us.
What is your hope for For the One Who Finds Me?
My hope is we will heal ourselves, and the rifts in our human culture, with empathy and kindness. Small gestures mean a lot, and they lead to bigger things I hope. New ways of thinking about what it’s like to be in someone else’s shoes and new curiosity about others who might be different in some ways but still connected because we’re all people and we all mostly want the same things in our time on this planet: love and safety and security, food and water and the chance to be remembered well. This project is one tiny thread woven into many other actions and thoughts we can each carry out and practice to create a stronger and more equitable world, and maybe a more positive legacy for ourselves as human beings.
How can people get involved?
Email me at fortheonewhofindsme@gmail.com and I can send you printable tags and instructions so you can place bouquets in your community. Or, write and ask about hosting a workshop for your community. I can help you plan the event and give ideas on how to get the components donated. This project is great to do with a group of any age and in may contexts — scouts groups, senior centers, libraries, teen programs, corporate events, etc. — and you can find more info on the website too.
Any advice on how to replicate this feeling of kindness and joy into daily life? What little things might we be able to do in order to spread more kindness?
One place that’s easy to start — where I’ve been focusing lately — is in the act of tuning in to your thoughts and self-talk. Are you kind to yourself in your inner monologue? Do you treat yourself as you would treat a friend or family member? What messages of love and kindness can you give to yourself? And then, turning outward, my best advice to find kindness and joy is to be curious about people all around you. The cashier, the people at the bus stop, your waiter, your child during play … be still and observe and look for stories. You’ll see kindness and you’ll hear people share kindness as well as their struggles. So many of the mundane moments are actually an opportunity for connection. We all need and are seeking these experiences, even if it’s just eye contact and a shared smile.
– Megan Kulick
Photos courtesy of Danika Laine.