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With whimsy, imagination and a little something from the heart. |
 The Mayo Clinic explains how the Art of Kindness can positively affect every aspect of our being:
“Rather than viewing it exclusively as an action, think of kindness as a quality of being you can cultivate. Giving kindness often is simple, free and health-enhancing. Good for the body Kindness has been shown to increase self-esteem, empathy and compassion, and improve mood. It can decrease blood pressure and cortisol, a hormone directly correlated with stress levels. People who give of themselves in a balanced way also tend to be healthier and live longer. Kindness can increase your sense of connectivity with others, decrease loneliness, combat low mood and improve relationships. It also can be contagious, encouraging others to join in with their own generous deeds. Looking for ways to show kindness can give you something to focus on, especially if you are anxious or stressed in certain social situations. Good for the mind Physiologically, kindness can positively change your brain by boosting levels of serotonin and dopamine. These neurotransmitters produce feelings of satisfaction and well-being, and cause the pleasure and reward centers in your brain to light up. Endorphins, your body's natural painkiller, also may be released when you show kindness. Be kind to yourself When sharing kindness, it's not just how you treat other people — it's also about how you extend those same behaviors and intentions to yourself.”
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 It may seem joy and happiness are interchangeable, they are not. Happiness is a choice. It can come and go. Joy lives in our hearts and is always available. Certainly, there are many things in our lives that bring us joy, yet true joy comes from deep within. Joy can be a source of happiness. Here are some aspects about joy.
 Imagination is a unique word and carries the world in it. It is a common belief that seeing imaginary ( not-real ) things is imagination. Not always so.
We can develop not just images but ideas and plans that will further help in completing tasks, achieving our goals. Creativity is woven deep within our imaginative powers. Our ability to create, build or construct things depends on the strength of our imagination. The vision of a dress comes before sketching the blueprint. The concept of a plot, characters, and lessons come before writing a story. The ideation of the steps and consequences comes before developing the prototype of a machine or device. Considering pros and cons comes before realizing solutions. Envisioning a picture comes before painting a canvas. Imagining is like a seed that sprouts, then begins to grow,, blossom and finally blooms. “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” Albert Einstein  Martin Luther said several centuries ago, Everything that is done in this world is done by hope.”
There is much turmoil and uncertainty on so many levels in the world these days. Still there is hope because there are those doing whatever they can to bring goodness and restore stability. We have choices. We always have choices. Even when we stand immobile and do nothing, that is a choice. Is that what we want, succumbing to our challenges, not making waves, believing there is nothing we can do? However, when we choose hope, there are no limits to possibility. I found that the following by Dave Hood said it best: “Hope is not wishful thinking, nor is it magical thinking. Hope is an emotion, a mindset, a belief, a motivation, that despite setbacks and obstacles, despite hardship and misfortune, despite the unknown last chapter of your life’s story, you believe that your life will work out, that when you take your last breath, there is something else beyond this world. You can do incredible things when you have enough hope.” Maybe, just maybe, the message entering the unknown of what lies before us is, whatever we are faced with, our default needs to be hope.  Gosh, oh gee. I never would have guessed what happened when I tried to select a g word. Each time I came up with a possibility, a glut of other words galloped through my mind. It was as if someone turned on a faucet labeled g and a galore of words gushed forth. I tried to turn off the faucet and just go with one word. However, gleefully, almost mockingly, g words continued to gush. What was I to do with this grandiose gathering of g’s? I couldn’t seem to zone in on one specific word. Finally, I decided not to fight it.
Why, then, select the word, gift? Well, there are 358 positive words beginning with g. For example there is gentle, generosity, gratitude, grace, gleeful, gusto, giving. Any one of the 358 that resonate for me or you is a gift.  There are so many positive words that begin with ‘f’, despite what might come to mind at first. Some of those more pleasant words might be fun, faith, fanciful, friend, fact, fruitful, flexible, fastidious, to cite a very few.
My question now is, did you ever latch onto a word because the sound of it invokes a good feeling? Felicity is that word for me. The sound of the word, the flow of the syllables always make me smile. And, of course, the meaning of this word is intense happiness. Some synonyms include, happiness, joy, joyfulness, cheerfulness, delight. Do you have any words that give you a good feeling when you hear or say them?  Sometimes less is more. This is one of those times. Maya Angelou’s words about empathy say it more succinctly and better than I could.
“Each one of us has lived through some devastation, some loneliness, some weather superstorm or spiritual superstorm, when we look at each other we must say, I understand. I understand how you feel because I have been there myself. We must support each other and empathize with each other because each of us is more alike than we are unalike.”  “You’ve got to have a dream. If you don’t have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?” That’s a line from the song Happy Talk in the musical South Pacific. Just in case you relate the word ‘dream’ to wishful thinking or fantasy, let’s look at the synonyms for ‘dream’ found in the Oxford English Dictionary. They include Aspiration, goal, hope, intention, objective, design, ambition, plan, aim, vision. Having a dream, goal, aspiration, intention for our life in the short term and long term provides us with many benefits. It is a good way to focus attention on the things that are important. It allows us to create a vision of how we would like our life to be. This in turn has us develop a plan and set priorities . Even taking small steps towards that dream gives us hope, a sense of purpose and well being. Dream on.
 Here we are in April with the hope and promise that Spring brings (despite the current weather). Part of that is the magnificence of the multitude of colors that will pop up all around us. I envision daffodil yellow, cerulean blue sky, grassy green, cherry blossom pink, fuzzy wuzzy brown tree bark. With that, my thoughts totally go to Crayola crayons, the amazing dream sticks. They come in a kaleidoscope of 120 awesome colors.
These 120 colors include 23 reds, 20 greens, 19 blues, 16 purples, 14 oranges, 11 browns, 8 yellows, 2 grays, 2 coppers, 2 blacks, 1 white, 1 gold and 1 silver. Who knew? May I suggest you dig out that Crayola box and color the world with love, one crayon at a time. Fun fact: the first box of Crayola crayons was sold in 1903 for a nickel and included the same colors available in the eight-count box today: red, blue, yellow, green, violet, orange, black and brown.  “Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.” This passage is from The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. I would like to say this concept has been of great help to me. At the end of the day, I ask myself, “Did I do my best today?” I then review the day’s events to answer that question. Whatever the answer, it does give me a better perspective and helps me not to be too hard on myself.  Hello, again. It’s been 2 months since I took a hiatus from blogging. Honestly, I didn’t think I would start again. Yet, here I am, uncertain about my commitment to longevity. When I began doing this, I believed if I did not stick to a weekly post, I might easily stop at any time. And so, for 6 years, 6 months and 2 weeks I never missed a week.
I’ve decided to return with a different mindset. I will write if the spirit moves me or a muse shows up. If neither happens, I’ve given myself permission to take a pass. So, here we go. For a while I was reading Sue Grafton’s alphabet mysteries until they started getting more violent and graphic. However, the idea of using the alphabet for subject matter could be fun. While I like to do things in proper order, I may not. If a letter shows up with a story, I may just go with it. Let’s begin. A is for already. What efforts have you already made towards what you are next hoping, planning wanting for yourself? Reflect, for a moment, on a sense of progress that you have experienced. This may have been because of an important decision, a surprising risk, or even a familiar struggle you’ve worked through. The point is becoming aware that whatever progress was made could be a jump start to what’s next. Knowing what you’ve already done and can do, you may not need to return to square one. How did it help you to discover what’s really important to you?” Comments are always welcome.  "There's a trick to the 'graceful exit.' It begins with the vision to recognize when a job, a life stage, or a relationship is over--and let it go.
It means leaving what's over without denying its validity or its past importance to our lives. It involves a sense of future, a belief that every exit line is an entry, that we are moving up, rather than out.” Ellen Goodman When the “up” becomes clear, I may be back. Meanwhile, thanks to all who took the time to read my posts. Hoping to meet up again.  I might be about to set a Guinness World Record for length of being out to lunch. I am not ready to close up shop permanently. I figured I’d just go out for lunch or several lunches and see what happens. The pantry is empty, so I must dine out until it can be restocked. I’ll keep in touch and let you know if anything enticing appears on the menus along the way.
 I don’t know about you, but January has always been a long, bleak month of not much for me. At the moment I am recovering from being quite ill over Christmas and New Year’s. Consequently it seems like not all of my brain cells are firing yet. Also, still waiting for my smell and taste to return. About that, I found an interesting exercise recommended by the Mayo Clinic to help stimulate the olfactory nerves. They suggest inhaling the scents of eucalyptus, clove, lemon and rose for 15 seconds each twice a day. I think it’s actually helping. But, I digress.
What I am really looking for is some nonsense, something to stimulate the creative part of my brain. There is so much turmoil and disturbing things going on around the world, from which we could use a break. For me that break includes some nonsense and whimsy, something to stimulate my imagination. It’s a work in progress. In the meantime here are some notable days in January that can elicit smiles. Jan. 3 – Fruitcake Toss Day Jan. 4 – National Spaghetti Day Jan. 8 – Bubble Bath Day Jan. 10 – National Take The Stairs Day Jan. 10 – Peculiar People Day Jan. 15 – National Hat Day Jan. 16 – National Nothing Day Jan. 18 – Winnie the Pooh Day (A.A. Milne’s birthday) Jan. 20 – Penguin Awareness Day Jan. 21 – National Hugging Day Jan. 21 – Squirrel Appreciation Day Jan. 23 – National Pie Day Jan. 24 – Compliment Day (This should be every day) Jan. 27 – Chocolate Cake Day Jan. 28 – National Kazoo Day Jan. 29 – Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day Comments are welcomed.  “I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something.” Neil Gaiman
Have a happy, healthy New Year and let’s make that “doing something” be a little something positive each day. |
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