Posted in Likes, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, hope, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers on December 20, 2022| Leave a Comment »
“When I say it’s you I like, I’m talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed.”
― Fred Rogers
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Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, holidays, hope, inspiration, Thoughts, Ukraine on December 7, 2022| Leave a Comment »
It’s December and starting to feel like the holidays; I am behind on presents, and the tree we’ve had up since before Covid is finally seasonal again, so situation normal. I’m also planning my end-of-year donations, to food banks, animal welfare groups, medical and other help for those who need it, and more.
We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light a candle that can guide us through the darkness to a safe and sure future.
— John F. Kennedy
This video of the Children’s Choir of Ukraine is helping me get into the holiday spirit.
They also gave another performance in Grand Central: Ambassador Bridget A. Brink on Twitter: “Light amid darkness…
For more on the choir and the Ukrainian origins of the song itself, check out this article.
100 years ago, ‘Carol of the Bells’ came to America — from Ukraine : NPR
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, hope, inspiration, Thoughts on May 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »
“It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
We can do better. We must do better.
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Posted in Entertainment, Holidays, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, #Maythe4thBeWithYou, hope, music, Star Wars Day on May 4, 2022| Leave a Comment »
There is a lot of trouble in the world right now, but we are not helpless. We are not hopeless. And if there’s any better way to remember that today than Star Wars, I don’t know it. Just thinking of the theme song raises my spirits. Here’s to building a better future.
For motivation, check out this piece on the history of John Williams’ rousing theme:
Behind The Song: “Star Wars Theme” by John Williams – American Songwriter
And then, of course, there’s our scrappy band of Rebels.
“Would it help if I got out and pushed?”
— Princess Leia
Always.
May the Force be with us.
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Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, Fiction, genre fiction, hope, inspiration, J.R.R. Tolkien, sff, Thoughts, Writers, writing on March 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »
On this day, eons ago, the brave Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee fulfilled their quest to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. And so it was decreed that March 25th would ever after be known as Tolkien Reading Day!
What does that mean?
Today is Tolkien Reading Day! – The Tolkien Society
And as an extra bonus, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Estate Releases Treasure Trove Of Drawings And Maps.
See those maps and more here: Maps – The Tolkien Estate.
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“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Posted in Likes, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, hope, inspiration, quotes, Thoughts on March 22, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.
— Desmond Tutu
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, empathy, Europe, hope, Thoughts, Ukraine on March 2, 2022| Leave a Comment »
One of the side effects of growing up mixed race and adopted is the (often in-your-face) realization that a lot of how we divide ourselves into “us” and “them” is a matter of choice.
Like so many of you, I’m watching the war in Ukraine and hoping the news will improve.
I don’t know any Ukrainians (or many Russians). They aren’t Americans or Canadians or African Americans or Swedish Americans or Italians or Germans or French or Irish or any of the other categories that I might reasonably be expected to claim as “my” people. But they are people.
And that’s what matters.
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Background & Links
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“I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, Author and Veteran
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, hope, peace, Thoughts, world on February 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »
“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”
― Martin Luther
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, action, hope, Thoughts on February 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Some days I wake up and the world is my oyster. The sun is shining, work is good and my to do list glows with possibility.
Other days not so much.
It’s usually not that anything is wrong, per se. The sun is just as bright, work is on schedule, the world continues to turn. All good things, but there are never just good things. I like to at least try to look on the bright side but of course, not everything is awesome all of the time. And some days the not so good carries a little more weight.
Inevitably, you will miss the bus, your loved ones will not always be healthy, dogs (and software glitches) do eat homework, and the good guys don’t win every round.
Fair enough. But what is the antidote to this not awesome?*
Action.
Make something. Do what you can. Help someone, even if it is yourself.
Life isn’t always positive but you’re creative, interesting, smart, capable and fun. When you can, be an island of hope in a not-always uplifting world.
Answer not good with great.
“This is the world as it is. This is where you start.”
― Saul Alinsky
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* Regular readers may have guessed what I’m going to say but that’s ok, reinforcement strengthens habit and action is a habit I appreciate.
Posted in Likes, tagged #365Ways, #JoniMitchell, climate change, creativity, hope, inspiration, music, Thoughts, Writers on December 9, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Some days you take a break from the avalanche of news and realize you’ve got Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi stuck in your head. The chorus can feel too true to remember that there are reasons to be cheerful and the world is not, in fact, on a one way trip to Ugh Town.
But other days? Like today days? With heartfelt respect to Ms. Mitchell,* you realize that the final lines of the song could be rewritten:
“They saved Paradise,
and took out the parking lot.”
And we’re just the people to do it.
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J.R. Johnson 
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