EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OK

Everybody has their stories… stories of pain, stories of fear, of loneliness, of discrimination, of desperation… But in all the chaos of our lives today, there are also stories of freedom, stories of love and stories of hope.. I believe in God, and I know that without Him our lives would not have been possible so far. The message we are trying to spread is rooted firmly in my Faith, and in the Word of God; the message of LOVE and HOPE. I was walking around in Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg some years ago and I noticed a small black sticker outside the Psychiatric ward on the gate. It was plain…black with white writing on it saying “EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OK“. This came at the end of a particularly hard day, and somehow that little sticker, that basic sentence gave me hope. Hope to face another day.

 

I am an artist. I paint, I sketch,I sculpt and take photos. But have been looking for a way to share that little message that made my day. So stencilling it became. Its rough, imperfect and done on dodgy, unexpected places. This is how the BAD things in our life is. Rough, imperfect things, done in the darkness. But to be able to move forward and read the message is what it is all about. To find the hope in the imperfect medium. To find the light in the darkness, to get up and to choose life.

 

I also have little stickers that I paste in unexpected places. For this I can’t take all the credit. I followed the lead of a Joburger who started with the stickers and made my own. I try to spread the message through people I encounter that is at a specifically bad place in their lives, I give some stickers and tell them to go and decorate the world with hope. To go and stick the stickers in their environment. By doing this I am spreading the message and if I see a sticker I did not paste it again gives me hope.

 

I did one in Richmond over the December holidays, and was approached by a local police officer. After a long conversation, he left me alone with the words “maybe it will give the people a little hope”.

 

This is exactly what we are trying to do. To leave small messages of hope in places where people would see them, and hopefully show them that even though things are hard, it is going to be ok.