Making Friends Through Blogging

I like my friends like I like my M&M candies.  (My old English teacher would have hated that sentence because for a full year he wouldn’t let us use the work like!)  Sorry, but I couldn’t help getting off task for a moment…ahem…let me begin again.

I don’t care about your candy coated color, I just care that you are sweet inside.  Oh boy, does that sound goofy when I reread it!  But it’s true.  Honestly.  That’s why I love blogging.  We meet people from all over the world and what’s the tie that binds us?  Blogging.  Being kind to others.  Taking the time to read someone else’s work / life / poetry / photography / philosophy /short stories, etc.  Blogging unites us in ways that we may not have had the chance to bond.  I’ve met hundreds of bloggers and many hold a treasured place in my heart, as real as my own soul family, even though we’ve never met in person.  With technology these days, this is not a remote possibility anymore.  It’s factual.  It’s friendship without borders.  It’s friendship through blogging and making global connections.

We share our lives through blogging and through those connections, we become friends.  Well, maybe better said virtual friends, but friends all the same.  It’s funny how some of us now talk on the phone, text and email as well as comment on each other’s blogs.  It’s a community of sorts with blogging friendships.  We’ve shared triumphs, failures and lessons learned.  We’ve shared advice, companionship and understanding.  We’ve shared good times and bad times and even been there for each other when we’re grieving through life’s hurts.  We’ve shared heartfelt hugs, prayers and love.  We’ve shared inspirational tidbits, learned new things and have grown our minds, hearts and souls by opening ourselves to others’ points of view.  How awesome is blogging when we use it universally for positivity and for connecting with others!

Your blogs entice me to learn.  You inspire me to be a better person.  Your photography makes me smile.  Your poetry makes me feel deeply.  Your camaraderie promotes peace and connections.  Your heartlights shine brilliantly and I am truly grateful!

I just want to thank you all for being exactly who you are!

The perfect M&Ms who sweeten my days!

Shine On!

xo

You Gotta Live and Let Live

My Granddaddy owned a general store in a small town in South Carolina.  Because people sometimes didn’t have the money for the necessities that they needed to buy in his store, he would often trade with them instead of using currency.  He would come home with chickens or eggs, once even a goat, from the farmers who needed to buy flour etc.  The story goes that he never let anyone leave without what they needed even when they lacked money.

“You gotta live and let live,” was his motto even back then.  He has long since passed, but the refrain still sticks in my head.  I was talking with one of my cousins today and we were reminiscing about our family and the memories that we shared were priceless.  When I told him the motto above, he chuckled and said it was one of his favorite sayings from AA and he never knew why.  It was simply one that stuck in his brain.

~ Live and Let Live ~

What a lovely way to look at life, don’t you think?  Allow others to be who they are, don’t judge and just look after your own self.  Do what’s right.  Be a good person.  Be yourself.  Be kind and loving towards everyone.  Just remember you can only change yourself and you need to accept everyone else as who they are.  Be a blessing in someone else’s life.  Allow your hardships to help others and not to harden your heart.  Look up and embrace life.  Be joyful that you are here to hold someone else’s hand.  When it’s your turn to need help, embrace the kindness given to you.  Pay it forward.  Don’t hoard your lessons, but share the experiences.  We are all battling something ~ patience and understanding go far when we connect with others on our life journey.  It helps to share when you connect with understanding and embrace others in a kind, loving way.  Be grateful that you can help someone else, even in a small way.  That’s what we are all here for on this life’s journey.

Hold my hand…let’s share!

Shine On!

xo

La Gratitude

 La gratitude fait grandir l’âme, attendrit le coeur

et amène de la joie dans la vie.

Gratitude expands the soul, softens the heart and brings joy to life.

 

 Gratitude embraces our soul with every new day, blessing us with a new canvas on which to create our lives with joy.  I am grateful for all of our connections as we travel this path of life, weaving in and out of each other’s lives, bearing witness to triumph and tragedy, sharing milestones and interacting with peace, love and joy.  Together we hold hands, reaching out beyond our homes, into the blogosphere where we connect with heart-filled presence.  Sending out love, reaching for hope and feeling peace in our souls as we shine, each in our own special sun soul way to form a ball of beauty which smites the darkness of negativity in the world.  It is to all of you whom I give special thanks for being so kind, so loving and so receptive to my writings.

I awoke this morning to a brilliant beginning, full of hope, full of love and full of gratitude.

I would like to thank Frederic over at  poems and poemes   for his kindness and unexpected dedication in his blog.  Merci mille fois Frederic!  I am honored, I am grateful and I am full from your kindness.  Please take a moment to visit:  Click Here!

Shine On!

xo