This one is for my dad
Summer fun
They pulled up some seats to watch the bunny in the backyard.
Love is love is love...
The recent act of terror in Orlando brings two important lessons into intense focus. One, that access to military-grade assault weapons is unnecessary and beyond dangerous; and two, that even in communities as diverse as Orlando, we must counter the intolerance and hate that exists.
The first part of that is easy; it is a policy change. Or a more exact reading of the 2nd amendment, which does not actually allow unlimited rights to firearms.
The second part is harder. It is changing and opening minds and hearts. It takes longer, but it is not impossible. And the only way there is to humanize those who are victims, and continue to love freely. Try to not be swept into the hate that motivated the crimes, but instead try to educate and motivate others to be open-minded.
#wearorange
Today across the nation people are wearing orange to bring awareness to gun safety. Sparked by the death of a 15 year old on Chicago's south-side in 2013, Hadiya Pendelton's friends chose to wear the color orange to remember her. They started what has become a national movement.
Get involved with saving lives from gun fire. There are common sense solutions that would benefit us all.
Let your faith
Just a reminder for when starting something new or putting yourself on the line.
Friend calls
Yesterday I randomly called my best friend during my lunch hour. I don't normally do that. We haven't been frequent phone-callers since high school, or really, the widespread invention of email. In fact I felt the need to preface the call with "this isn't an emergency". We hadn't chatted for awhile and I just felt the urge to touch base. I'm so glad I did. We talked for 30 minutes about life stuff and generally both felt better getting off the phone than we had when we picked it up.
My April was all about written correspondence. Maybe my June will be about conversation.
Brush pens
My husband bought me the best birthday present - a huge color selection of these beautiful Pentel brush pens. So I've been practicing, as any brush pen takes a little while to get used to the necessary pressure. And finding the right paper is key. But I'm having a fun time figuring it all out!
Birthday
Today is my 33rd birthday. I've been fortunate to have many small and large gestures of celebration, thanks to friends near and far. A younger self would have thought I'd have more of my life path figured out by now. But I'm okay with the uncertainty because I'm working with a pretty great team.
April Correspondence
Over the past month I've written 30 letters -an attempt to use hand-written correspondence to increase communication. Either I've attempted to deepen existing conversations or kickstart ones that have been neglected. It's been a success. In response, I've gotten several notes (by hand!), a small flurry of texts, and one fantastic hours-long phone call with an old friend.
It's taken time, to sit down and craft specific content to a specific person. But it has been enjoyable to really reflect on a person and their life, and interests, and current experiences before putting pen to paper.
Social media means we know more of each other's milestones and day-to-day. But that was a good jumping off point for these letters. I continued a conversation that was begun on a "wall" or as a comment. It was fulfilling to be able to congratulate, reassure, profess, admit in a very personal space.
And it was fun picking out stamps and embellishing addresses.
Thanks to write_on. I'm already looking forward to April next year.
The last stack of letters went in the box today.
A happy recipient.
In your heart
Might as well go for it.
Write On
Really excited to participate in my second year of the write_on campaign, which celebrates April as National Letter Writing Month. They encourage everyone to write 30 letters, one for each day of the month, by sending out free stationary kits. This is truly a holiday month I can support.
Abide
As winter and the mental clouds that accompany it drag on, abide with me.
