Words by Smiley Team
One 32-year-old is on a mission to spread joy and improve the mental wellbeing of complete strangers after being inspired by a small online community.
You’ve heard of random acts of kindness, but the subreddit ‘Random Acts of Cards’ describes itself as a place for card kindness – where anonymous users offer to send cards to anyone who needs cheering up for free.
Indigo Camryn stumbled across the page two months ago whilst on Reddit and immediately became charmed by the idea. They decided to offer handmade and personalised cards, to anybody feeling lonely.
Almost immediately the requests started rolling in, and quickly became so many that Indigo felt a little taken aback initially. “It was overwhelming at first but I soon found that making the cards was incredibly good for my own mental health,” Indigo tells Smiley News.
“The responses I received from the people I posted cards to were so heartwarming that it spurred me on to keep going and keep creating. Seeing what I was doing actually inspired other people (people I’ve never met) to do it too, which was even more amazing.”
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Random Acts of Cards currently has around 75,000 members, although many are observers rather than active card-senders like Indigo.
Not everybody creates personal, handwritten cards – and Indigo feels that whether you make or buy the cards is irrelevant, as it’s about the message inside and the act of sending.
When Indigo connects with a stranger on the subreddit, they ask questions about that person’s life, and how they are feeling lately, to make sure that the message inside the card is personal.
“It’s such a fulfilling thing and something I’d highly recommend others try," says Indigo, "Knowing that you’re the reason someone you have never even met is smiling and comforted is a rather extraordinary sensation. If anything else, it’s a reason to get up in the morning if you feel lost, depressed or just bored!”
Indigo, who lives in England, has already posted cards to some far-flung corners of the world, including one to a young woman in Nigeria who admitted to struggling with her mental health.
Something that took them by surprise was when they began to receive cards back in response from all over the globe.
Within no time at all cards were arriving from the USA, Australia, Singapore, Canada and even New Zealand, all of which were saved to open on Indigo’s birthday last week.
Random Acts of Cards has been a ‘force for good’ in Indigo’s life and they can’t see it stopping any time soon.
“The response has been way bigger than I ever expected," Indigo adds. "Some people have told me they burst into tears because they’d felt so alone, others have found it gave them strength they didn’t know they had. It just makes the world a slightly less scary place and I’ll continue to do it for as long as I possibly can!”
JOIN THE GROUP: If you’re interested in joining Random Acts of Cards and sharing some positivity, visit it here.
VOLUNTEER: Age UK are always recruiting volunteers for their befriending services, to combat loneliness. Find out more on its website.
