I walk through West Seattle’s Lincoln Park nearly every day. I do it for exercise and to get my couch potato dog, Poppet, off the yellow velvet sofa where she sits, snoring many hours a day.
And for one more reason: I go for my daily dose of love.
The materials change, but the message always remains the same. (Image: Cheryl Murfin)
You’ll find the Lincoln Park Love Rock at the Y that breaks the gravel trail at the north end of the park’s beachside into two paths, one in front of Colman Pool and one that snakes behind it. It sits kitty-corner to Bruun Idun, one of the trolls created by Danish sculptor Thomas Dambo. The rock, however, has been there far longer than the troll. Since 2013, it has been a community-driven, evolving art installation in which park visitors continually spell out the word “LOVE” using natural materials — shells, flowers, pine cones, and twigs. Once, fir boughs and red holly berries at Christmastime.
On Saturdays and Sundays, Poppet and I often settle down on the driftwood nearby and watch kids and parents stroll up and down the beach, searching for items to add to the LOVE they found spelled into the rock when they arrived. Sometimes, I’ll approach a child adding to the display and thank them for continuing to spread LOVE in our community.
You’ll find it at the intersection that breaks the gravel trail at the north end of the park’s beachside into two paths. (Image: Cheryl Murfin)
I’ve seen couples get engaged in front of the love rock. I once saw a young reader sound out the letters and have that Aha! moment of understanding: “L-O-V-E! It says LOVE!” His parent beamed with pride. Last year, I saw an elderly man and a child, possibly a grandchild, lay a leather cat collar along the length of the letter ‘L.’ The man looked sad and pulled out a cloth handkerchief. The grandchild took his hand and patted it tenderly.
Following my own mother’s death, my son, Poppet, and I took a late evening stroll and added a pinch of her ashes to the ‘O.’
(Image: Cheryl Murfin)
The Love Rock is beautiful and necessary, especially in times of upheaval and uncertainty when “me first, we first” feels like our country’s new motto, one that comes at the cost of many families. The rock is a voice to and from the community standing against isolationism and self-interest, instead saying to passersby; “This is for you, from us. Take it and pass it on.”
The rock’s message is so simple: LOVE. Start everything, every decision, with that.
(Image: Cheryl Murfin)
It is a message that children need to see and participate in creating so they learn in their fingers and bones that love is the most important thing they can do. Love themselves. Love their neighbors. Love the environment and care for it. Love participating in the community.
I’ve looked, but I’ve still not discovered the origins of the Lincoln Park Love Rock. In my imagination, the hands of a child or a teen spelled the first LOVE. A young person not yet jaded by all the emotional baggage the word might college in a longer life, but instead innocently basking in the joy of giving it away.
Give your kids the gift of the Lincoln Park Love Rock. Visit Lincoln Park and add to this endearing art. Have a picnic nearby. Talk about love and how love can change the world. Invite a child to feel it and spread it.
(Image: Cheryl Murfin)
