2,011 Letters Project

I've been promising to blog about this for a while, so here it is.



The 2,011 Letters Project is being run by a home school group in the US. Their aim? Well, it's really simple - to collect 2,011 letters from all over the world during 2011! They want to learn about you and where you live and about the lives you lead. It's really, really easy to take part and you don't normally have to write letters to be able to do it.

Just visit their blog and send them an email and they'll send you their postal address. Write about whatever you want! Most importantly, pass on the news about this wonderful project. Post it on Facebook, reblog it, Twitter it. With the power of the internet we can make something amazing happen this year!

Thank You!

"My friends are my estate." - Emily Dickinson

 

I apologise for not updating as of late, but it has been fairly manic at this end. There are many, many great people signing up to the "Write Around The World" film and I have been truly blessed by the number of people who have gone out of their way to help promote it and get people on board. It's testament to the goodness that lives within many people across this globe. 

Thank you to everyone who has signed up, and to everyone who is walking through this project with me. You are all wonderful. Never forget that!

Be cool!

Right now, I have just 8 words for you:

Kindness is cool so let's pass it along!

Happy New Year!

Here in the UK, there are just a few short hours before we shall be bidding farewell to 2010 and welcoming in 2011. For those of us who find the changing of the years depressing, here is what a friend of mine has to say:

The Chinese believe that the "decade" birthdays (i.e. 20, 30, 40 etc) are gateways that set the scene for the next decade. The same can be said for decades, of which people don't believe traditionally start until the 1 (i.e. 1991, 2001, 2011 etc).

So see this year changing as the beginning of a new period in your life. Make your wishes and hold onto them. Stay happy and positive and the next 10 years will be happy and positive. Keep smiling. Keep loving those around you even when they wrong you. Say "I love you". Say "Sorry". Or you could take some advice from the song "Sunscreen":

"Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch. "



Have a very happy and joyful 2011!



(Photo - Christmas 2009)

The Season of Giving and Goodwill

“He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much.”
~Lao-Tzu

Christmas, they say, is the season of goodwill and giving. And, as I'm discovering, there are a lot of thoughtful and giving people out there.

Over the past month or so, I have been rendered speechless by the blog posts which have been cropping up from people who are in support of my pen-palling film (For those not in the know, it's a user generated film about people who take part in the age old hobby of exchanging letters through the postal service. I'm a fully paid up member of this hobby and wanted to make a film based around it). There have been several and I wouldn't have known about any of them unless various kind hearted people hadn't emailed me to let me know. But it's the fact that people are taking the time out from their lives to talk about something by someone they've never met. They've never met me and never spoken to me yet, with all the love in their hearts, they are grabbing this project by the proverbial horns and spreading the word. Wow! Just wow! I can't find the words to express how I feel about what these kind and lovely people are doing for me! Blog posts, emails, words of encouragement and love. Where has this outpouring come from?!

So thank you to the team at Sandbook for dedicating so much of their website and magazine to this project.
Thank you to Maxine at Penpal Magazine for blogging about us!
And thank you to the blog I discovered today, Penpalling and Letters for giving us space as well!

And thank you to everyone who emails and writes and keeps me going when the going gets tough! Thank you to all of you for being here and reading this, for offering your help and your support. You are all very special and extremely wonderful. May you all have a wonderful and joyous Christmas.

A human being is only interesting if he's in contact with himself. I learned you have to trust yourself, be what you are, and do what you ought to do the way you should do it. You have got to discover you, what you do, and trust it. 

Barbra Streisand

 

It seems that if you trust enough, if you smile enough and if you wait enough, things do begin happening. 

Firstly Sandbook.net, a large and popular pen-palling forum, got in touch after being past one of the postcards I'm circulating regarding an art project about pen-friends. They're now acting as sponsors and promoters, encouraging people to get in touch and be involved. 

Secondly, the lovely owner of Penpal Magazine posted a wonderful blog entry about the film:

http://penpalmagazine.blogspot.com/2010/12/pen-pal-video-by-glass-completely-empty.html

So it's gathering steam, which I'm really happy and really thankful for. It's not the project that I thought would begin to take off first but it's certainly a welcome surprise! 

The Complaints Department is now CLOSED!

A noble person is mindful and thankful for the favors he receives from others. ~ The Buddha

Everybody moans. It's a fact of life. There are times when we just have to get some things off of our chests and air our grievances to another person. But we seem to be living in a world where there are nothing but complaints, where no one thinks of the good, only the bad. They complain because the boss hasn't performed the task they said they would. They moan because of the hours they have to work. They whine because such-and-such in XYZ department isn't doing their job the way the complainer thinks they should. They find fault with the bus company because their bus was late. They moan and fill the world with negative energy, never thinking beyond that little realm.

Perhaps it's time we should take a closer look and be thankful for what does happen. To be thankful for the boss who pulls out the stops so that we can have a safe working environment. To be thankful that, in this climate of unemployment and low pay, we have a job. To be thankful that the person in XYZ department goes above and beyond the call of duty and asks for nothing, not even thanks, in return. To be thankful for the bus driver who stopped when he saw someone collapse and stayed with them until help arrived.

That's all I ask, to take a closer look at your life. To look at the people we work, live, love and exist with and to see the good they're doing in the world today. To go up to them and say "Thank you". It's 2 words, 8 letters, and so easy to say. To stop before we open our mouths and complain and moan and whine. We know that we can never please everyone in this world and we know that we will complain and that we will be at the end of the complaints, but the least we can do is be thankful. Your words, your kindness, your smile, may touch that person's life. We don't know how a person is feeling at any given time and that gesture, no matter how small, may be just what they need to pick them up from a rut. Let's be thankful, let's be happy and let's spread that happiness! In this approaching season of peace and goodwill let's go out there and spread some goodwill!

Be Thankful!

Be Happy!