Further to my post a couple of weeks ago about the power of color to enliven, check out this story of Jim Cotter, a widower from Glouster, Ohio who decided to fix up his town by painting buildings with bright colors. (CBS has disabled embedding, so click here to watch the short clip.)

Could there be any clearer illustration of the impact the things around us can have on our lives? I think Bonnie Shifflet, owner of a restaurant painted bright orange by Cotter, says it best when she says of the paint job, “It just did something to me.” I love that this started with one widower and has become a movement that the whole town has joined in. And that it went from one fire hydrant to twenty buildings. This is what inspires me about joy — its contagiousness. A piece in the Columbus Dispatch notes:

[Cotter] has reason to be hopeful. Not long after the project started, the owners of a hair salon on High Street saw what was happening in the neighborhood and had the store’s walls power-washed.

They plan to paint next.

What small action could you take today that might start something much bigger? How could you make it visible so others, even those you don’t know yet, can join in?

Source: Ohio Widower Paints the Town to Make it a Brighter Place, CBS News
Image and quote: Coats of Kindness, Columbus Dispatch

And thanks, Dad, for the tip!