If we were having coffee, I’d apologize for having to postpone last week’s meeting to today and thank you for sharing some time with me today! With Thanksgiving and my birthday running back to back last weekend, there just wasn’t the time, but what a wonderful weekend it was!
Yes, yes, of course I’ll tell you all about the turkey, but first, how are you?!
Times are crazy, aren’t they? So much hurt and hatred in the world and inflicted on each other at every bend. You know, sometimes I just want to crawl into a hole and ignore it all, but then I wonder what that does? Does that add to the beauty of the world or do the opposite and add to the negativity?
I’d been contemplating leaving Facebook. My feed was full of opposing political views and I didn’t want to just unfollow everyone to neutralize my feed…there were all of these memes and cell phone videos talking about and showing horrible things…there was all this anger (well, fear flipped into anger) towards people who don’t act and look like “us”, and it was all making me so very sad. I swear Facebook is an emotional rollercoaster, isn’t it? So, I thought I’d just pack it up and stay in touch with friends and family in other ways (does anyone even do that anymore?!). But then I realized that what I wanted to see in my feed was some positive instead of all the negative. Yes, I want to read the hard articles, I want to hear the difficult perspectives that are not being shown in the mainstream media, but I also don’t want to be reduced to tears every time I try to check in on my feed. So, I decided to be part of the change I want to see by liking and sharing more of the positive, feel good stories and pics and memes and videos than the informative (and sometimes negative) ones. The world is a shit storm, no doubt, but I keep going back to the Fred Rogers quote:
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
And I hope that, while I’m choosing to see the good in people and not give up on this world, others are seeing and sharing these more positive messages and finding a bit of hope, too. Maybe we can all even carry a bit of that hope and positivity around with us, creating a bit of a ripple effect?
Well, it’s better that crawling into a hole, isn’t it? 😉
Now, tell me please, how do you deal with the sadness and violence all around us? How do you flip it so you can function on a day to day basis without feeling just so incredibly overwhelmed?
Whew…alright, enough of the heavy stuff! How about a little music? Have you seen this video yet? My brother-in-law shared this the other day and it made me and Ember very happy (she was so cute singing along to it!), so I hope it’ll make you happy, too…
If we were having coffee, I’d ask about your Thanksgiving! How’d it go? Did you host or attend The Meal at someone else’s house? As you know, we hosted, and it was great! My daughter and her boyfriend spent the night on Wednesday so we could have some time together and so she could help me prep a bit the next morning. Everything went off without a hitch, the turkey was divine (it tasted just like turkey! Imagine that?! 🙂 ), and the company invaluable! Now, we haven’t decided for sure if we’ll raise our own turkey again next year, but I’d say the experience was well worth the challenges we faced while raising up those birds.
If we were having coffee, I might mention that I am this close to finishing my Sky Blanket! I am determined to get it done this weekend! I only have two and half days to add to it, but those days are represented by full rounds around a King sized blanket, so it’s not quick going. It’s doable, though! And then I’ll take a bazillion pictures, throw it in the laundry and finally put it on the bed! Who knew I could be so excited about a blanket? But I guess one should be excited about completing any project that’s taken an entire year to complete, right? Now, what about you? Are you working on any long-term projects right now? Have any in mind for the coming weeks or months? I have a new one brewing, but we’ll cross that bridge once this one is finished 😉
Alright, I think that’s it for now! The To Do lists are long and the days are short, but I thank you kindly for sharing a few minutes of time with me here. Have a lovely weekend and week ahead, and hey, let’s do this again soon, OK?
xoxo,
M
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That video is the cheeriest thing I’ve seen all day. I couldn’t stop smiling watching it! 🙂
Jessie recently posted…Mundane Monday: Corn Stubble
So much fun, right?! Hope you’re having a wonderful week, Jessie!
I feel the same way about Facebook, and I’ve seriously contemplated shutting down my personal Facebook account (not the author one) for the exact same reason. “Fear flipped into anger” is so incredibly perceptive of you, because that is surely what is happening to people on both sides of these issues. It is the name calling and the lack of civility that I despise the most. I am old enough to remember living in a time of etiquette and good manners, when people from opposing political parties or different religions could comfortably be good friends. I do think it helps not to immerse one’s self in the hype. Stay informed, but don’t wallow in it. Hard to do with today’s social media.
I’m so glad to hear that your home-raised turkey dinner was a success! I went back and read your post about the big day and commented there too. I am in awe of what you’ve accomplished!
Nooce Miller recently posted…December, the Busiest Month: Weekend Coffee Share
“Stay informed, but don’t wallow in it.” That’s the ticket for sure! It’s such a balance and some days I cry at everything…which is why there must be positive found in every corner I can hunt it out of 🙂
I totally agree about the Facebook thing. I see so much fear, anger and hate. That is the reason I started my “Smile a Day”. I agree with you that if we can “carry a bit of that hope and positivity around with us” that it really can cause a ripple effect. I really believe there is much more good in the world than bad but for some reason people get focused on the bad. Perhaps if enough of us share our love, compassion, kindness and beauty it will help to counteract those who rely on hate, mistrust and fear to further their agenda. Perhaps.
Nice video 🙂
Trent recently posted…A Smile a Day – Day 3 – Fight Song
I surely hope so. It’s worth a shot and helps me have hope in the world, so it’s so very worth it to try 🙂 thank you for trying, too! Have a wonderful week, Trent!