Yesterday myself, Juran Ratchford (in the photo on your right), The Kool Life (behind the camera), and Tracie Cieara (somewhere off in the city behind us) conducted our first LxVE Collective social experiment. We hit the streets with nothing but our talents, this box you see in front of you, the messages contained inside of it, and our own genuine interest to do something inspiring and creative. We didn’t know how it would turn out, but it ended up being one of the most fulfilling days of my year.
Brief background to this, if you’ve been following me you can tell that we’ve started The LxVE Collective. LxVE stands for Love x Value Everything. And if you want to get freaky with it (not literally) Love x Value Everyone. With this collective, I as of now have two goals.
Goal #1.) Inspire others and myself to Do what we love, Spread Love, and Not be afraid to Receive love.
Goal #2.) Create a brand to connect the creative individuals I know who are making strides in their own right and all move as a supportive unit in a loving and creative way.
I wanted to must do something and leave something greater than myself. Something that others can make their own. The LxVE Collective is and will continue to be that. So we hit the streets of Atlanta, with this box with hidden messages. We approached strangers telling them “I have something in this box for you. Whatever you get from it is yours to keep. All I ask is that you give something back to it and pay it forward.” Thankfully 95% of the people I approached were down to play along. Many thought I was talking about money, (mainly with concern that they didn’t have any to give) but it was actually envelopes with hidden words of encouragement. After they received their message which was theirs to keep I asked them to write a new message to put back into the box for someone else to be encouraged.
The looks on participants faces were priceless. And they were happy to give something back. It was a way for us all to do something nice without knowing how the blessing will ultimately be reciprocated. Life tends to work like that. And in many cases, a word of encouragement is worth more than a gift of a few dollars could ever be.
This ended up being one of the most fulfilling days for me because for one it was a day I mainly made about giving to others, and two it was a day my creative friends and I got together to do exactly what those goals are that I listed above. We were all doing what we love.
Love is what it all comes down to. Do what you love every day. That will always make it a day worth living.
LxVE,
-AxJ