Ripples of kindness

Words wield great power and Jodie Preiss knows all too well how a few letters, strung together in a sentence, can change the world – one positive affirmation at a time.

From changing rooms to a hospital lift, over the years she’s placed thousands of handwritten messages of hope around Melbourne and now she’s stuck her largest one yet, on a Torquay billboard.
“In January 2018 my brother took his own life, a couple of weeks later I was diagnosed with breast cancer and in May of that year I underwent a double mastectomy,” she said.
“I had to put off dealing with all the grief around my brother’s suicide while I was undergoing treatment.
“Prior to my cancer diagnosis and brother’s death, I’d been writing positive affirmations on sticky notes and sticking them around. My goal was to spread happiness and put positivity out into
the world.
“After everything that has happened to me over the past two years, I started thinking about what I wanted to do in the world and how I wanted to be remembered, so I launched Collective Ripples.”
Collective Ripples is a social impact movement with the mission of inspiring more resilience and kindness in the world, launching their first digital billboard earlier this month.
“Luke Course from Regional Billboard Co contacted me to let me know they were happy to donate two billboards to my cause, one in Torquay (which is close to my heart having holidayed there my entire life) and another one in Traralgon.
“I chose the words ‘This moment matters’ as a reminder to have gratitude for each and every moment because in the blink of an eye your world can change, and it’s those seemingly normal moments that can help up through challenging times.”
Jodie said she hoped the billboards have a positive impact in the world, inciting kindness, encouraging people to believe in themselves and perhaps even save a life.
“My ultimate goal is one day to get a message from someone who said they saw my words on their way home on the billboard or on a sticky note and it stopped them from doing something really stupid.
“I just want to make people smile and feel good about something in their day. This is my way of sharing some words of hope and positivity, to help people to get through and come out of this knowing someone cares.”
With so much negativity in the world, Jodie hopes the Collective Ripples movement inspires others to be a part of the change they want to see.
“So often we think it needs to be something big but the reality is if we all collectively do something little, we can still make change happen, we can create those ripples collectively.
“Every day you have the opportunity to create a ripple for yourself, for a loved one, a friend, and even for a complete stranger. Collective Ripples can show you how, join our movement of individuals seeking to create change in the world through inspiration, love, kindness and giving.”
The billboard at 106 Surf Coast Highway Torquay will remain for another month. If you would like to join the Collective Ripples movement follow them on their socials @CollectiveRipples or head to collectiveripples.com.au.