Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. ~Doug Larson
Having battled another snowstorm last week, it doesn’t feel like springtime. And yet, because of daylight savings time, it does feel warmer, sunnier, more spring-like with dusk arriving later than we were used to which is such a treat! In fact, I didn’t even shovel as the sunlight has been doing a great job of melting all the snow ~ thanks Mother Nature!
So, Happy Spring Y’All!
Shine On!
xo
May All of Your Weeds Be Wildflowers
Dear Janice,
I just wanted to thank you for all of your help during my surgery. Thank you for coordinating the soccer rides for R and for continuing to keep me in the loop in all things!
I also love the pictures you send me everyday! You are an amazing photographer and I love the different array of pictures you send me daily! For me, it’s something fun to look forward to every morning and I love starting my day out on a happy note!
Thanks for being such a great friend ~ and for being YOU!
Warmly, xo
Misifusa
Janice began sending me pictures that she has taken over the years awhile ago. She has a great eye for the unusual and also for the mundane, but she shoots them in such a way that the colors are stunning and they are simply beautiful. I keep telling her that she needs to make a book of her amazing photographs or at least a calendar! I love the ‘backstory’ that she always has for the pictures as well…where they were taken etc.
It is just such a joy for me to see among my other emails, this little bit of sunshine everyday. I love to try and guess where she took the picture and how/why. And to see a bit of beauty every morning on my computer is a treat as well.
So this one is for you Janice…thanks for keeping my world so pretty and colorful!
xo
Thank You!
Today celebrates my 100th post on my blog and I want to begin by thanking all of my readers. I started this blog to reach out to others, to inspire, to be of service and to spread the knowledge I’ve gained through my life experiences. Using cards as my springboard, I’ve tried to bring an inspiring message to you with every post.
I’ve had a bit of time to think lately as I’ve been recuperating and I’ve come up with a goal that I am hoping you might want to participate in. I’ve been talking a lot about gratitude these days and I’ve got a lot to be grateful for in my life…and I’ve a lot of people to be grateful for in my life. I’ve written a ton of thank you notes recently as many people have come to the aid of my family and me by bringing dinner over, sending flowers, sending little gifts in the mail, sending prayer cards and even just sending ‘thinking of you’ cards which have brightened my every day. Truly I am blessed. I loved getting that unexpected card in the mail among the bills and junk mail. My eyes lit up every time someone brought me an envelope with my name on it because to me, it was like a little piece of Heaven…you thought of me enough to pick out a card, write a heartfelt message, address, stamp and mail it to me so that I could have something special to open…how fantastic is that!
There are many books out now, like The Magic, which reiterate that we should be grateful, be cognizant of the blessings we have already and as you concentrate on those multitude of blessings that you already have, more come your way. I agree with counting your blessings and living a life of gratitude. I’ve kept a gratitude journal a la Oprah which has helped to keep my positivity in check…and has grown my blessings and miracles enormously.
But I’m finding that I want to do more, globally and reach out to others with that gratitude. A smile, a polite thank you in our daily lives to those who show us kindnesses is one way to show gratitude, but what if we were to take it a step further and say it…say thank you with a card…a heartfelt message to someone to whom you are grateful? Imagine the amazing benefits to you and to the recipient if you were to write a heartfelt message of gratitude to a friend and the priceless feelings it would give that person when they opened a special card from you saying thank you.
Maya Angelou wrote,
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
My goal is to send a heartfelt card a day to someone whom I am grateful for ~ I’m going to do it for 30 days ~ a card a day. I will post my journey each day so that you come along with me. I’d love for you to join me as my goal is to get 100 people to send a card a day for 30 days. Imagine what we could do by sending out love & gratitude everyday for 30 days to 30 different people? Imagine the impact it would make on our little world…of course, my mind races with what if’s…what if 1000 people did it for 30 days and so on…
If you’re interested in joining me, let me know…it’ll cost about $1 a day, you can do it from you computer and you may even change your life…what if we started a movement of gratitude? A wave of gratitude which knows no bounds…
Join me on this journey…let’s change the world, one card at a time…
Thank you for reading my blog…I am grateful to all of you!
xo
Let us be grateful to people who make us happy,
they are the charming gardeners
who make our souls blossom. ~Marcel Proust
I recently visited a friend whom I’ve known for over 30 years…she is 33 years older than I am, but is as young at heart as anyone in her 40’s. I made this card above because it reminded me of her.
What a gift to be the person who is a gardener of lives and that’s just what JAngel was for years and years ~ working in the school which I attended as a child and was blessed to return to teach in as an adult! She has touched the lives of hundreds of children with her sunny smile and sweet disposition. Before bullying was a hot topic, JAngel was on guard watching over her darlings on the playground and in the cafeteria and quietly in the hallways, making sure that all in her care were happy, safe and enjoying their childhoods ~ like a Guardian Angel.
JAngel and I reconnected as she has been recently diagnosed with cancer. During our visit, we opened up as we often do when we know that someone who’s ‘been there, done that,’ may understand how we are feeling. I think there’s a special understanding between those who have faced cancer or any other life changing illness. We just ‘get it’ easily as many times we’ve felt the same way about facing one of life’s hurdles.
In the caring facility in which she currently resides, she is a joy to behold which I knew she would be. Nurses and aides alike came to visit and to see if JAngel would like a little muffin or even if I wanted a cup of coffee. She greeted each and every one by name with her charming smile. It was clear that they adored her and she adored them. It was great to see her gardening her blossoming souls again.
So today’s post is dedicated to my friend JAngel ~ a woman whom I aspire to be like, a role model of decorum, love, light and precious caring ~ a woman who inspires others to be their very best and who always sees the best in all!
Thank you for being You!
xo
There is hope if people will begin to awaken that spiritual part of themselves,
that heartfelt knowledge that we are caretakers of this planet. -Brooke Medicine Eagle
Sunday is Earth Day for those of you who aren’t aware of this holiday. April 22 marks Earth Day worldwide which is now in its 42nd year and observed in 175 countries. The original grass-roots environmental action helped to spur the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act in the U.S. many years ago.
Perhaps as your own tribute, you can go out and enjoy what our Earth has to offer this weekend…look at the ground, the plants, the trees, the flowers, the animals and the sky. Be thankful for Earth’s beauty which surrounds us everyday and for which we sometimes forget to notice.
Take this opportunity to show a tree that you care and ‘hug a tree!”
Just kidding…or not! 🙂
Happy Earth Day to you!
xo
Spring. Yesterday the twig was brown and bare;
To-day the glint of green is there; Tomorrow will be leaflets spare;
I know no thing so wondrous fair, No miracle so strangely rare.
I wonder what will next be there! L.H. Bailey
The sunlight is dappled across my green lawn as I look outside this morning ~ and I see the tiny buds on the bushes, trees and flowers and I am in awe. Spring has Sprung! And it’s Passover and Easter…rebirth, renewal and family all rolled into one!
I love all of the seasons, but Spring has a special place in my heart. I love the idea that a small seed can grow with love, sunshine and water into a beautiful flower, a sturdy tree and even a beautiful, powerful, loving, caring human who simply by ‘being’ makes this world a better place to live!
A seed can blossom into an idea which changes the world…one thought can SPRING into action which changes your life! Look around today in awe at the beautiful Spring emerging in your world. Check the skies, check the earth, check yourself…be excited…Spring is here my friends!
May you have a Spring in your step today!
Happy Friday!
xo
Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower.
I decided to blog because I wanted to share my happiness in being here with more than just my family and friends. I thought that if I could show others who are enduring hardship in life’s journey that there are others who are here for them, then perhaps it would make it a bit easier. Breast cancer is a Sisterhood, but it goes without saying, that any journey has its ups and downs and we are all connected in this world.
I have friends who have endured other difficulties in this journey of life and they continue to inspire me as well with their courage, their faith, their baby steps as they continue forward. I am ever so grateful that they have shared what they are enduring ~ that we have connected ~ so that we can help each other along the way.
It is a gift to share happiness and blossom where you’re planted…and it’s your time now!
Share your happiness ~ scatter the seeds of happiness and BLOOM!
xo
Misifusa's Blog 