KNOWvember: Day Ten - Cassie

​​It was first a painted rock that caught my eye. Then a board with glitter and paint and some plastic kid jewels. Some popsicle sticks glued and painted. More rocks. And more boards. Each one inscribed with a positive saying. Each the work of an artist’s heart.
 
That heart belongs to Cassie, who’s signs, or what she calls “love bombs,” I had blogged about just a few months ago (read here). I love the positive messages and the guerilla-style method she employs to spread the good words. So I had to meet her. And get to KNOWvember her.
 
“I would place these rocks around the park in the mornings when it wasn’t too crowded. I didn’t like people see me put them out. I wanted to do it anonymously. I wasn’t looking for a pat on the back or recognition of any kind.”

​For a former actor, it seems strange she’d not want the spotlight herself, but on the good work, letting the rocks speak for her. “I wanted to reach the masses when we were restricted from being with the people.” After struggling to find the light within herself, these love bombs seem to be Cassie’s way of returning the light for others.
 
As we spoke, I found so many ways Cassie and I related to one another. We both have had those moments when the light around us seemed to dim a bit. And each time we clung to what little light we had to see us through – often coming out a better, stronger, and wiser because of it. This happened a few times to Cassie, who was honest and sharing with her truth. None of which will be revealed here. That’s her story for her alone to share with the world.
 
But here are some fun facts about her: As a young actress/singer/dancer she performed to the soldiers at Guantánamo Bay. And then returned to Cuba as part of a Beauty Brigade that provides facials female soldiers.  

When it comes to peanut butter, “Creamy. There’s a place for peanuts but not in my peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”  And she thinks soup is a meal. “Oh my gosh. Yes. I’m always wanting to know what the soup of the day is.” Her favorite lie is to play dumb when she’s in trouble. “I just say, ‘I didn’t know.’”
 
Raised in Palm Desert, CA she eventually made her way to Los Angeles at 18 hoping for that big break as an entertainer. But life took her in other directions. Sometimes up. Sometimes down. But with each step, obstacle, or barrier to overcome, Cassie began to evolve into the woman she is today. She loves where she is right now.

​“I’m in a good place in my life.” Still, if she could live in any other time in history, she said, “Well because I love the big band era singers, I guess it would have to be the 1940’s.”

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What does Cassie what she likes to do with her hands? “I love to create and beautify.”  As a trained cosmetologist, Cassie said, “I love to make people feel good. I love doing their hair and makeup then watching the pep-in-their-step as they go away like that.”
 
And that takes us back to her love bombs that I keep hunting for in the park like a kid wandering around playing Pokémon Go!

​As it turns out, the idea grew out of an idea she had for her grandmother’s funeral. “She had all these rocks in her front yard. I thought instead of people giving flowers I thought people could paint her rocks and leave them as a memorial for others to see.”

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​Cassie still had some of those rocks and paint left over when COVID put us all into lockdown. If you were stuck in quarantine with two young children, like she was, life can get a bit dull or worse, dark.  Instead of going there, Cassie decided to do something more light giving! She brought out the paints and began to change the narrative.  
 
“During the pandemic I knew the world was hurting. It was sad. The connection was minimal. I wanted to bring happy thoughts and smiles to people. I started painting these rocks. I would put positive quotes or words of wisdom on them. I would remind the passerby’s that there was love out there. I reminded them that their presence makes a difference to the world.”
 
Since no one knew who created the love bombs, Cassie could sit in the park and watch people noticed her work. But soon she noticed something else happening. “People took the rocks. I couldn’t have been happier. I love knowing that I touched someone’s soul. That the message I put out resonated with them. If I could make someone’s day a little brighter, that makes me so happy.”

​To use her own words, “This is what life is all about. Love. Lifting others. Spreading light in a world full of dark.” I couldn’t agree more. That’s my mission and calling. And it seems to be Cassie’s as well. I might argue that’s everyone’s job. It’s more than just doing a good deed here and there. It's about living into our own goodness all the time, so that others can know it's okay to live into theirs.
 
“These are daily choices I make because it’s just who I am and how I decide to live my life. I guess you can call them good deeds...I call it normal.”
 
The world could use some more of her kind of normal. Some more light. Some more honesty. Some more good vibes. The world could use more Cassie’s, who through the smallest acts of kindness chooses to make life better, by spreading love around – one sign at a time.