Dear Universe,

I consider myself to be pretty observant. On a scale of one to ten, I’d even give myself a nine.  That’s why I was so surprised this week to see not one, but two inspirational messages in spots I pass frequently, but had never noticed before.  Could they both have popped up within days of each other?

The thing is these messages weren’t on billboards, plastered on signs or a slogan printed on my coffee cup (this time).  The words were graffiti painted on the side of a building and on highway medium in different cities, different states.

Ordinarily I don’t pay much attention to graffiti because with its big, black, block letters and code for something else, it’s not anything I can decipher (nor do I care to).  And even when I make out the message it’s usually some expletive screaming at me.

So needless to say, graffiti is not my thing.  It bothers me.

But the graffiti that surfaced this week was different.  The first caught my attention because the letters were scrolled in beautiful paint.  It was a deep gold shimmer—not a typical color for graffiti.  The other caught my eye because it was painted in pretty print—the kind of handwriting a calligrapher would use.

The artists clearly meant to make the messages look beautiful while saying something beautiful.

The first was only a word, but one of the most important words in any language.  “Love.”

The second was a little longer.  “Everything is going to be okay.”

I’m not saying vandalism is appropriate in any form.  But if I had to see graffiti, I’m glad it wasn’t the typical kind I’m used to.  I always say I’m keeping my eyes open for signs so it felt only right to recognize these.  Thank you for the unexpected words of hope.

With Gratitude,

A