OTTAWA -- One woman is keeping her neighbourhood connected, while physical distancing.
Over the last week, Becca Courtice, the creator of a website called 'The Happy Ever Crafter,' has been using her talents in calligraphy to write messages of positivity in chalk on the sidewalks of Ottawa's New Edinburgh neighbourhood every day.
"There was all this anxiety-inducing and panic-inducing news going around and I sort of got inspired to do something different and spread more positivity," says Courtice. "On a whim I ran out of my house, and I wrote 'We’re all in this together' and it took off from there."
The reactions have helped her get through this pandemic as well. She says even after two years of living in the neighbourhood, she’s met more neighbours than ever before.
"Neighbours have been telling me it’s improving their days, giving them smiles on their walks, and just generally making people feel less isolated."
But the artwork became such a draw it was creating more than smiles, Courtice says; it was also creating crowds.
So, she decided to take it inside and write the notes on her windows.
"I was contributing to people being to close to each other and forgetting social distancing, which is so important right now," she says.
Courtice says if you want to get involved, you can write your own message and put it in your window or your car so that neighbours can see but not get too close.
"I’m hoping that reminds people that even though this is a fun, exciting thing to see outside, we still need to keep a lot of distance from each other."
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