A woman in Oceanside has started what she’s calling a revolution of love with a letter-writing project she launched for people to express the love that they carry in their hearts.
“Love is so potent and so powerful that I think it needs an advocaten because I don’t think a lot of people are talking about it,” said project founder Giselle Hegstad. “The name of the project is The Love We Carry, and the premise around it is that everybody carries love in their heart no matter who they are or what they believe, especially in an increasingly divided and sort of crazy world.”
Hegstad said that, although the artistic form of expression seems somewhat unconventional these days, people have contributed.
The first letter she received was from a woman dying of cancer.
“She didn’t have very long to live, and I don’t think she’s on this earth anymore, but she had written it to a partner who had passed just before she did,” Hegstad said.
Hegstad said that letter touched her deeply. Since then, she’s received hundreds of letters from all around the world.
“I’ve gotten local letters from Oceanside residents, around California, a few across America, Vietnam, India, Thailand, Pakistan, U.K., Germany,” Hegstad said.
Hegstad wants the project to serve as a digital and physical space where love can flourish and grow.
“The purpose is to create a digital flower garden of little beating hearts and to sort of collect it one place, and then it can emanate out and pollinate other parts of the world,” Hegstad said.
It sure has been.
Hegstad brought her project to a middle school in Oceanside and shared it with Monica Pizzia’s classroom.
“I just really love the idea of sharing something good when you think about it and when you feel it, and letting the people know,” Pizzia said. “Because there are so many moments that we’re running around in chaotic stress mode that we don’t think about those little moments and realize how much we impact the people around us.”
Hegstad said the goal is to spread love one letter at a time.
“Maybe spark a global revolution of love?” Hegstad said. “I don’t know.”
Hegstad said that at some point she would like to create a gallery space to display the physical letters that have been mailed to her so that people can appreciate the diverse forms of artistic expression.
Entries can be submitted digitally at the Love We Carry website or by mail to the P.O. Box address provided on the website. Letters can be submitted anonymously.