Love Notes to a City
a tiny treasure sent to me in an actual envelope from soulsister & squarespace maven Krystyn Heide
My little urban family (comprised of Dave, my wild things, Nick and our dear Jess) was all in a flurry last night getting ready to sit down to a communal meal when the telephone rang. On the other line, all the way from New York, was our friend Krystyn. She’d had a surreal day–her offices overlook the apartment where Heath Ledger had been found dead earlier that afternoon. Crowds of onlookers (gawkers really) had gathered for a glimpse of God knows what exactly, watching the unfolding tragedy the same way people mill around the perimeter of movie sets.
To make matters worse, Krystyn had found a not so cryptic hate letter in a nearby coffee shop, directed mostly at anyone who might have an ounce of compassion for some random homeless person standing outside the door. You can read the entire story here.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Krystyn told me. “But it’s not good.”
I understood. Such serious signs of unkindness or despair start to pull at your grasp on hope. You start to wonder if anything is holding us together after all. You run through your own unfinished stories and collect evidence for a world less welcoming and more hostile than anyone would care to imagine. Stuff like this messes with your head.
We talked for a minute more as Jess picked at the roasted chicken sitting on the counter, and Dave put the finishing touches on homemade tostones.
“I think I’ll go home and write some little love letters to put around the city tomorrow,” Krystyn said. And just like that, I felt like hope had a fighting chance once again–not only in New York, but in my own weary heart, too.
I promised I’d write my love notes, too, to scatter around my dear town, and we said good-bye, both feeling a little bit more human, I think, more grounded in the story of kindness holding us all.
Where is despair telling stories in your world? What tiny bit of hope and goodness might you add to that furtive tale? I’m writing the love letters I most need to read, knowing I’m not alone in wanting to push back sadness, wanting to sink into hope.
Check out Titration’s blog–she’s two steps ahead of us in spreading the love in the city 
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:36 pm
That’s a wonderful idea! I want hope too.
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Sometimes I wonder where is there NOT despair?
I think blogs like yours are a series of love letters that do push back sadness and inspire us to try to add some hope and goodness in our own ways. Even if we doubt our own power, we have to keep trying. With so many of our behaviors, we choose between harming or helping. Everything (people, the biosphere, the universe). The many, little choices add up.
I shall carry post-it notes in my handbag today — no, from now on, so I’m ready to cover up hate graffiti.
January 23rd, 2008 at 4:23 pm
I will spread my own love notes. What a fantastic idea :o)
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:09 pm
I picked up 25 large postcards and cut them in half this morning. So far I’ve dropped about 10 around Soho. Tonight I think I will venture out past my corner of the city.
The gawkers are mostly gone. There is a memorial on the sidewalk, but its surrounded by TV crews and media folks trying to catch I don’t know what on video. As one of my co-workers said, it must be a really depressing job.
Maybe I will walk up there and start handing out love notes!
Thanks for listening to my babble last night. You heard what I couldn’t put into words.
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:20 pm
While we don’t often get to control the big picture, I appreciate the moments we have the opportunity to choose where we will put our energy and focus. I vote for love letters and will do my part from over here in San Francisco!
In hope, Staci
January 23rd, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Jen, there you go spreading hope and love again! Chicago will not go unloved if I have anything to say in the matter…Thanks for inspiring me yet again!
January 23rd, 2008 at 6:50 pm
What a great idea! I think I will get my kids involved and make it a home schooling adventure! New to your blog by the way and LOVE it!
January 23rd, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Chicago got some love from me as well
As you knew already.
January 23rd, 2008 at 7:32 pm
[…] « Love Notes to a City […]
January 23rd, 2008 at 10:31 pm
What a lovely idea! I’ll definitely do this in my hometown. Where, oh where, can I get a handful of those beautiful birdies? Namaste from the midwest.
January 24th, 2008 at 6:36 am
my husband and i have temporarily relocated to london from new zealand and one of the things that’s really struck me here is how little people seem to care about one another. most people avoid eye contact, there’s no friendly greetings to passersby on the street, no friendly sales people (with a few exceptions), no time to be polite, say hello or thank-you to the bus driver.
for me this is weird. i love to smile (well most of the time - i’m no angel). for me, one way i can spread love and kindness is by practising compassion, smiling and saying hello to people i pass in the street, saying hello and thankyou to the bus drivers.
i had an elderly gentleman yelling at me yesterday as i was standing on a park bench taking some photos. now i’m a fairly considerate lass and wouldn’t have stepped up there if my shoes were at all dirty. still, i got yelled at as ‘people have to sit there - i sit there every day’. i smiled and apologised saying that i hadn’t meant to offend him and i would be happy to wipe the seat down for him. he declined this offer and quickly warmed to me, even telling me about some of the history of the cemetery we were in, where to find some interesting gravestones etc. he warmed even further when i told him i was from nz - he had nz buddies during the war.
i wonder how that might have turned out had i done what seems to be the norm around here - yelled back and called him a grumpy old man.
thanks for this post, sorry for the long reply, i just wanted you to know that love is happening in london too
January 24th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
That’s a really lovely and heart-warming idea. Way to go Jen and Kristyn. I often get discouraged by the state of the world and, in particular, apathy towards things that matter and obsession with things that don’t. I find that smiling at people is a nice counterbalance–a sincere smile brightens anyone’s day.
January 25th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
I fully support this idea! I think love that we start will be spread around as well - kind of a domino effect.
January 25th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Plus…I’d like to blog about this as well to help spread the word!
January 31st, 2008 at 12:01 pm
[…] My second project is Love Notes to a City. This project has been happening in some towns in the states already and I felt remarkably compelled to do it here. (much thanks to Jen Lemen and Krystyn Heide for their brilliance).It is so simple. You basically write notes of encouragement, kindness and goodness and leave them in random places around your city for people to find. And hopefully they are found and read and maybe even passed on or maybe they are kept and savored by the finder who needed to read it so very desperately that day. I will not be hiding out, watching for reactions. I will leave that as a private moment for the finder. But I will post pictures of the places that I have left them. I am not the worlds most artistic person but heres a shot of some that I did last night, awaiting placement and discovery… […]
January 31st, 2008 at 1:59 pm
What an inspiring idea! Having just come from 3 years in New Zealand and Australia back to cold, blustery England, I do sympathise with Leonie - and all of you - at the big-city coldness you find sometimes. I’d love to try leaving love notes around too.
February 3rd, 2008 at 2:01 pm
[…] Conspiracy of Blessings is working with her own style of doing burst of kind activity with periods of rest. She found a couple interesting sites for us to connect to: Acts of Kindness and Jen Lemen’s Love Notes to a City. […]
February 13th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
I found your blog via April’s Conspiracy of Blessings. In a way, finding this page was like finding a love note!
It gave me comfort to know that others feel as I do - so utterly baffled by the self-centeredness, greed and hatred pouring out of our fellow man every day. It gave me hope that I’m not alone in my desire to make the world a better place, one small act of kindness at a time.
Sometimes I feel as if I’m from another world or something b/c no one that I know seems to be wired the way that I am - to just be kind and to comfort people who are hurting. They are all so wrapped up in things that are truly meaningless, and look at me like I’m weird or something b/c of the way that I care about others. I don’t know how to be any other way - it’s who I am! I’m glad to know there are kindred spirits here!
I love the love notes to a city idea! And I truly believe that people find just the perfect one that they need at that moment in their lives!
Thank you for inspiring me to keep fighting for kindness!!
Peace, Love & Light, my friend!
~Kim
March 1st, 2008 at 12:08 pm
I love the idea of unexpectedly coming across something that makes you stop and think, wonder, take a breath, feel spoken to, regarded. I can’t wait to make some up.
October 12th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
[…] Stranger Stories. Listen and be inspired to share what you have with all the love in your heart. Love Notes to a City. What about leaving notes that specifically address your fears (and everyone else’s?) about […]
June 23rd, 2009 at 1:23 pm
[…] The story of the spark behind Krystyn’s idea is recounted here: Jen Lemen: Love Notes to a City […]