a tickle of words to create smiles

Posts tagged ‘Christmas and holiday season’

Grateful for Handwritten Notes and Letters (TY-29)

There is something special about receiving a hand-written note.
~ Dr. Angi K. Orobko

Hand-written notes and letters are such a gift! I feel that the person behind it took that extra special time to scribe it just for me. Handwriting is becoming a lost art as more and more of our children are learning keyboarding instead of handwriting. I am aware that many school system’s no longer require and/or include cursive writing in their lessons anymore. I feel that is quite a loss.

With the dawning of computers and hand-held digital devices, more and more of us are typing and text-messaging (texting). Our own language cannot even keep up with the new verbs we are creating as we type messages on our mobile phones and other electronic devices. Furthermore, our words have been reduced to acronyms. LOL (laugh out loud) Am I the only one finding it hard to keep up with all of this digital-techno-speak?

Oh, please do not misunderstand. I do appreciate the convenience of being able to communicate any time I like, 24/7 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week); but, it does seem just a tad bit less personal. Don’t you think? The internet is certainly an amazing source for information (and misinformation).

Most questions can be answered at the tip of our fingertips by doing a Google search. Has “google” become a verb? I googled it and Wikipedia states that the Oxford English and Merriam Webster Collegiate dictionaries have added it in 2006. Really? And yet, my spellchecker has it red-lined. Hmm!

Let me get back on the topic of hand-written notes. On the one side, I love receiving them. I deeply appreciate and I am grateful for the time and effort that went into a note or letter that has been handwritten. On the flip side, I love to write them. Why? When I hand-write a note, a letter, or a journal entry, it allows me to slow down and take time and reflect. It can be quite meditative.

One of my favorite gifts to give others especially around the holidays are hand-written messages (in their holiday cards). I believe these messages are deeply appreciated, even though many of my loved ones do not reciprocate this. I usually get a Merry Christmas and a signature. It saddens me to think that holiday card exchanges have been reduced down to a chore. This is a golden opportunity to scribe a special message to share how much we appreciate our family and friends with hand-written messages.

Consider taking the time to reflect and appreciate your loved ones this holiday season by sending a  hand-written message of love, appreciation and blessings. Why not make it a new Thanksgiving tradition to gather the family to hand-write notes and messages of gratitude to include with your holiday cards? I am certain these notes will be well received. That is what I intend to do this year.

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Appreciation

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Christmas Magic

AKO-ChristmasMagic

Take the time to enjoy the splendors of Christmas and other winter celebrations. It truly is the most magical time of the year. My blogs in the next few days will be short, sweet, and related to Christmas as I spend more time with my friends and family. Have a wonderful holiday weekend! Merry Christmas!! (P.S. The photo I used for Norman Vincent Peale’s quote are the Christmas lights down my decking staircase.)

 

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Inspiration, Joy

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Think Globally, Act Locally

AKO-GlobalLocalOne of the most wasteful times of the year occurs in December. Why do I say that? Simple. Increased local traffic to stores. More consumerism. PACKAGING and WRAPPING! There is more baking, cooking, visiting, etc.

Let us consider clever ways to reduce the amount of waste we generate. One of the most simple things we can consider is how we wrap our gifts to each other. One of my favorite things to do is use simple canvas bags as gift bags set with a colorful and festive fabric bow, both of which can be reused. Look  about your home and see what you can creatively use to wrap your gifts this year. Maybe you have some fabric you can use. How about using newspaper and collage it with colorful magazine pictures?

Maybe you can forgo material gifts. Perhaps you can give a gift of love and time instead by visiting and engaging in heartfelt conversations where your attention is undivided (yes, turn off that electronic device for an hour or so). Here is another wonderful possibility…share a skill with others by teaching them how to do something you are good at doing, such as: gardening, baking, crocheting, wood-working, scrap-booking, bird-watching, fishing, paper-crafting and so on and so forth.

Other ideas: Dovetail errands so you are using less gasoline; create more gifts instead of buying them from materials you already have at home; send e-cards via e-mail instead of sending paper cards through the mail; have a holiday gathering around a charity event or while being of service to the poor and the needy; etc.

What are some other things we could do to cut waste during this holiday season? The list is endless and the possibilities countless if you just put for five to ten minutes of thought into it. I came up with quite a few in the ten minutes I spent writing this article. Most of all, have fun with the ideas. The holidays of December are meant to be experienced with love, joy and reverence. Don’t stress. Merry Christmas! (Ten days away and counting down.)

 

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Are We All UNDER PRESSURE?

Okay, so it is less than 24 hours to Thanksgiving Day; and, soon after that the kick-off to the craziest shopping day of the year. But all the shopping and pressure is not what Thanksgiving and the upcoming holidays of Hanukkah, Yule, Christmas and Kwanzaa are all about. The focus of these  holidays center around love, appreciation, hope, birth and rebirth.  We get to enjoy and love each other.

Yes, one of the ways we in the Western modern world express love and appreciation is through material gifts, which leads to “shopping,” but it does not have to be the focus of our holidays. The best expression of our love and appreciation can be the gift of time, the gift of loving words and actions, and the gift of enjoying each other’s company. Right? As the end of the song, “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie, expresses…

Can’t we give ourselves one more chance
Why can’t we give love that one more chance
Why can’t we give love give love give love give love
give love give love give love give love give love
‘Cause love’s such an old fashioned word
And love dares you to care for
The people on the edge of the night
And loves dares you to change our way of
Caring about ourselves
This is our last dance
This is our last chance
This is ourselves
Under pressure
Under pressure
Pressure

Let us give ourselves that chance to be love for others during this holiday season. Let go of the stress and worry. No more pressure! Those you love and who love you will not be disappointed if all you give them is your love and time. In fact, you may be relieving them of pressure to give you material things. Now, that truly is a gift. Enjoy each other’s company! Love, appreciate and enjoy each other! Happy Thanksgiving!

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