Keep those cards and letter coming!

Write letters and send postcards

The things that make me the happiest have an emotional and physical effect.  And even more so when you do something for someone else.  One of the most lasting of these things is a personal letter.

Being born in the transitional time between letters and computers, many people in my generation have already shunned snail mail as a way to communicate. This makes them rare, but a very inexpensive surprise. My grandmother was one of seven children, and they communicated with a round-robin letter. From mailbox to mailbox, they would add an update on their life and send it around to the next sibling. She taught me that letters are a valuable form of communication, something she’s emphasized as her memory slowly fades.

I got into the habit of writing letters and during the times where I was most stressed, a paper due, a newspaper deadline, or turmoil, I would write a letter. Letters live somewhere between thoughts and stories. They are a confidant and a piece of yourself that you can choose to scrap or share.

When I receive a letter, especially from someone who I haven’t heard from in awhile, I get a rush of endorphins, because I’m holding proof that the friend considered me. It’s the same rush I get when someone is thoughtful or goes out of their way to help me. Most friends reciprocate with a call to say how happy they were to open a personal note rather than another bill or W-2.

I followed epistolary literature in college, often using my break from studying as a chance to write letters. Perhaps letters will go the way of Wells Fargo wagons, but I’ll single-handedly support the post office as long as my friends have addresses and my fingers can write. Letters are my personal therapy, my rush of endorphins, my connection with those I love, and my alone time—my regular serving of happiness.

As the old Jimmy Durante song goes, “make someone happy.” A thoughtful, hand-written letter will do that EVERY TIME!

It's so important to make someone happy. 
Make just one someone happy…

Fame, if you win it,
 comes and goes in a minutes
.

Where's the real stuff in life, to cling to? 

Love is the answer!

 
Make someone happy. 
Make just one someone happy.
 And you will be happy too.

Creating your path to peace of mind:

Maggie Oman Shannon Champions the Importance of Creating  in a Busy and Often Chaotic World:

The author of Crafting Calm and interfaith minister shares her philosophical take on beauty.

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Maggie Oman Shannon, author of Crafting Calm

Ultimately, connecting to our creativity can help us connect to our spirituality. In other words, crafting can become a spiritual practice."

— Psych Central

(PRWEB) June 11, 2013

Interfaith minister Maggie Oman Shannon claims that cultivating and noticing beauty is far from frivolous. In her new book Crafting Calm, she relates personal stories and step-by-step how-to's on DIY projects that help people get in touch with their spiritual side. As she explains on Inspire Me Today, "There is always something lovely to be found, always; and the search for it or deliberate creation of it is never frivolous. John Keats was right: Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty." When most of the world is determined to shut down creativity in favor of being "realistic" or practical, Maggie Oman Shannon's is one of the lone voices encouraging people to put busyness on pause and focus on small, simple moments of peace and beauty.

Oman Shannon has also recently appeared on the the popular podcast Tranquility du Jour with Kimberly Wilson. The two experts discuss how to make time for crafting in the midst of a busy schedule, and talk about the importance of finding a few moments for peace. As a mother with a jam-packed schedule herself, Oman Shannon knows from experience how hard scheduling time for calmness can be. But, as she so boldly states, the active and mindful focus on beauty is a "political statement" and a "spiritual practice," and the inner peace it can bring is well worth the effort.

Rev. Maggie Oman Shannon, M.A., is an interfaith minister, spiritual director, workshop and retreat facilitator, and author of five books, including Prayers for Healing and A String and a Prayer: How to Make and Use Prayer Beads. In 2000, Maggie Oman Shannon founded The New Story, a coaching and consulting business focused on helping people create deeper meaning in their lives. Shannon currently has the honor of serving as Spiritual Director of Unity Spiritual Center of San Francisco. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and nine-year-old daughter.

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Excerpt of the Day: "The Inspired Life" by Susyn Reeve and Joan Breiner

In need of an inspiration pick-me-up?  Look no further!  Susyn Reeve and Joan Breiner’s The Inspired Life is filled with definitions, quotes, life stories, exercises, and meditations meant to open your mind to the creative potential in every moment of daily life.

Here’s an excerpt:

“Our Invitation to You”

There have been many names for and descriptions of the times we are living in. Some consider this to be a New Age, others the Age of Aquarius. To some it is the End Times with doomsday quickly approaching. Some believe the end of the Mayan calendar is simply an astronomical occurrence while others define it as the end of civilization as we know it; still others say while it marks an end, it is a gateway to a new beginning of peace and cooperation among all peoples.

Charles Dickens’s words from his classic novel continue to ring true today.

The worst of times: When watching and listening to news reports it becomes clear that there is currently much strife and cruelty in the world: war, genocide, ethnic cleansing, the stoning of women, which always amazes me since the ones hurling the stones were birthed through the bodies of women—their mothers. Economic conditions throughout the world are worse than they have been in decades. The divide between the rich and the poor widens daily as the middle class disappears. Children are starving throughout the world while the military budgets of nations get larger and larger. In the United States partisan politics is so focused on who is “right” and who is “wrong” that it seems that issues—even the role and purpose of government itself—get lost in the desire to win elections. Corporate greed and government scandals fill the airwaves and leaders are not trusted. News pundits weave stories of fear and terror as their nightly offering. Natural disasters seem to be rapidly increasing. Is the current recurrence of bedbugs a plague in our midst? Hate crimes based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation abound. Not only is there hatred among racial and ethnic groups throughout the world, families can’t even get along.

The best of times: Since the first photograph, the famous “Blue Marble,” in which Earth is in full view was taken on December 7, 1972, as the Apollo 17 crew left Earth’s orbit, there is no doubt that we are One—one humanity on one planet. Since that time, our inter-connectedness and inter-dependence has been made more and more evident through the Internet via Twitter, Facebook, and blogs, which offer instant access to social networks and worldwide communities (and playing a significant role in the call for democracy in the Middle East); the global economy and the resources and support that are readily offered, not only by governments, but also by people throughout the world within hours of reports of disasters. Advances in research have provided life-saving procedures and remedies. Educational opportunities abound. There is a global movement afoot honoring Mother Earth, our true home. Green industries are becoming mainstream. At the same time the evolution of consciousness continues with more and more people committing to live Gandhi’s words, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Individuals and groups are reaching across borders and boundaries in the name of peace. Women throughout the world are stepping forward committed to peace and our voices are growing and the fruits of these labors are being felt.

Katherine Woodward Thomas and Claire Zammit lead “Calling in the One” and “Feminine Power Mastery” tele-classes with thousands of participants representing more than fifty countries worldwide. In these programs, women and men in a community of support declare their commitment to live their inspired life visions, to be love made manifest in their relationships with themselves, their families, and their local and global communities.

Whatever you may believe, isn’t now the time to enrich your life by affirming and committing to your inspired life vision? At the very least, living your vision offers you the possibility of greater joy, fulfillment, and happiness. And, at best, as you put your stake in the ground for living a more peaceful and loving life, your consciousness generating your actions contributes to the collective consciousness of the Greater Field of Life, and love grows and peace expands for all.