With the spotlight on ALS this past week, I am reminded of how often we take for granted the wonder of our bodies and all they do for us.
Can you imagine what it would be like to lose all of those abilities?
Misifusa’s Blog: The Presents of Presence shares the gift of living a positive life in spite of adversity. And who among us hasn’t had challenges at one time or another? Yvonne is a breast cancer survivor who celebrates all that is praiseworthy in the world, and she has been an inspiration to me and many others.
In her own words:
Don’t berate your body for being overweight, not good enough or any other negative thought you may have about it. Just breathe in and be with your essence of your body. Hug your body like you would a sweet child who needs comforting.”
I am highlighting the following post, because in spite of being at odds with our own physical afflictions, there is still so much to be grateful for.
Visit the link below, and don’t forget to tell her Jennifer sent you. 🙂
I found the Kindness Blog only yesterday, and am now a follower. I love the types of stories they find and share with the world. Some are heartbreaking to begin with, yes. But when you read on, you find out how someone’s kindness made a difference.
It is uplifting to know there are such compassionate souls out there!
In their own words:
Sharing media featuring kindness in all its varied forms.
Since the Kindness Blog started, the response received from you lovely folk out there has been literally overwhelming. We’re truly honored and touched by your support and encouragement. In this regard, we’re also very conscious that any congratulation received, is due solely to the kind people whose stories we share.
These are the people who freely give help, that lend a listening ear to a sad soul’s tragic tale, that share what resources they have, that tolerate, that understand another person’s plight and actively work to uplift others from poverty, oppression and loss. This blog celebrates the angels of kindness that walk among us every day.
From the simplest acts of charity through to grand, life-changing gestures of kindness, we publish images, videos, real-life-stories, personal reflections, quotes and other various media which all have one special thing in common…Kindness.
I have selected two of their posts for you to check out. The first one tells of an act of kindness to an animal.
Diana Schwenk is, without question, one of the nicest bloggers I’ve met since I started here at WordPress. She is friendly and fun, loyal and positive, and puts a smile on my face every time we interact (I hope I get to meet her in person someday!).
And she happens to be a fellow Canadian from one of our biggest cities, Calgary.
In her own words:
I believe in collaboration. I believe in building community. I believe in tearing down the walls that separate us. I believe in conquering fear through love and understanding and building tolerance. I believe we all have a mission and we are equipped with the exact right talents, education, experience and passion to accomplish it…
Diana
I have put the spotlight on her post below from Canada Day because it is delightful and speaks to my love of our mutual homeland. I invite you to pay a visit to talktodiana, her wonderful blog, and don’t forget to tell her Jennifer sent you.
This being the last day of Autism Awareness month, I am reblogging Kath Unsworth’s post on the topic. She has such a gentle yet inspirational way of explaining how autism has touched her life.
“Reading was my escape and my comfort, my consolation, my stimulant of choice: reading for the pure pleasure of it, for the beautiful stillness that surrounds you when you hear an author’s words reverberating in your head.”
― Paul Auster, The Brooklyn Follies
Ah… the written word. It has been my truest passion since my chubby little hands first held a book and my eager, unfledged mind tried to unlock the enchantment within its pages.
As I know it is with many of you, reading since childhood has taken me everywhere, through experiences and adventures in exotic lands beyond my horizon, and all the way back to the charm – or heartbreak – of a domestic story around the corner.
Books have allowed me to journey along with colourful, unforgettable characters, to get inside their minds, to live other, more fascinating lives. And between the lines, some books have given me truthful and enlightening glimpses of myself, that I may never have learned otherwise.
Reading at Poolside
Our book cluboffering this month,The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, found its way with me to sunny Cuba last week, a key item among my accoutrements, and a vital part of my prescription for R and R. To me, bringing along good reading material on a holiday is arguably more important than bringing along my husband my camera. Hmm. Of course, if I hadn’t had a camera, you wouldn’t be looking at my sun-starved knees right now. 😉
In our rapidly changing world of hurried living, instant technology, and short attention spans, has the enjoyment of full-length books fallen by the wayside? Certainly not for this blogger. Even if you are clutching an e-reader, as I witnessed with many fellow vacationers, you are my kind of people.
You are the kind of people who would probably love and identify with these other delicious author quotes I found on the love of reading.
“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” ― Jorge Luis Borges
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“The world was hers for the reading.” ― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
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“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” ― Lemony Snicket, Horseradish
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“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
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“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” ― Cicero
Do you always pack a book or two when you travel? Or does a good read have the ability to take you away no matter where you are, even from your couch or in your own garden? Come, bookworms, share your thoughts!
Rhonda deals with the loss of her beautiful daughter last spring by blogging about it. Heart-wrenching, powerful, and beautifully written, she tells how even those closest to us often keep depression hidden. Please ask for help if this is you.
On 4-11-13 I lost my beautiful, brilliant 23 year old daughter to suicide due to the illness that she kept from me and all others all her life, depression. This is the story of my travel down this road of horrendous pain and disbelief, and stories of her wonderfulness as a person
Blame it on too many years as a student, but any venture I take part in, I look for themes. The search for themes often takes place in subconscious gatherings, until my mind pieces together all the parts and comes to a new conclusion.
Recently, I’ve found some themes in the blogosphere that sit uncomfortably in my heart. Two major themes I’ve found tied together in the blogging world lately are: the fear of authenticity and the need to apologize for real life.
In the middle of 2013, I read several “exposé” articles from well-loved blogs. These posts shed the aesthetic perfectionism seen featured on most blogs today, and the bloggers unabashedly shared photography and stories from their real day-to-day lives.
You know, real life: messy life. The ‘I just got home from work and my make-up wore off hours ago‘ life. The laundry baskets are overflowing…
Reblogging my post from a year ago. This is the first anniversary of our mother’s passing, and a difficult year it was. You are always in my heart, Mom x
Hello, Friends and Followers. A dear and close member of my husband’s
family has suddenly become very ill and is currently fighting for her life in ICU. Because of this, I have not been able to focus on my novel-writing, or my blog recently.
So I thought I would share with you something that made my day on March 29th: one of my favourite bloggers, Diana Schwenk, chose my blog as her Friday Pick for that week. I was beyond flattered when she posted this. I suggest you check out her inspiring blog; you won’t be disappointed.
Jennifer x
She’s real with a heart full of love and has inspired me many times to want to be a better person. Jennifer is also very interactive and this appeals to my “community building” nature. That’s why I follow Jennifer at Jennifer’s Journal. I hope you will have a look and I’m sure you will agree that Jennifer is worth a second look and a click on the follow button!
In her own words, Jennifer says:
Looking back on my blog after its first year, I can safely say that my Journal’s overall theme has turned out to be one of Love, more specifically, the sharing of what I love or have loved in my life, with you. Two years ago my husband and I got out of the city and returned to rural life in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Our hope is to continue living life simply…
Jennifer's Journal 