Week #289 – Back to Basics: Stay Healthy and Stay Connected!

Greetings Tribe — and Healthy Friday to you all!

(I’m changing my usual greeting to “Healthy” because that’s what’s top of mind right now.)

As social distancing measures increase throughout the country and more cities go into “lockdown” mode — our body language, voices, and verbal communication skills are being brought to the forefront.

Texting and GIF’s just aren’t enough for this. We need to see people, to look at their faces, to hear their voices, to feel their spirit.

There are many statistics that argue how much of communication is verbal versus physical…I’ll leave that to you to Google this morning. Most agree that more than half of our communication is in body language alone. And even more is in other non-verbal cues.

But we don’t need a study to know that. Anyone who’s ever lived or worked with another human being long enough knows: it’s not always what we say, but HOW we say it — in tone, body posture, and a little eye-roll here and there!

Its a good reminder that Happyness isn’t spread by big effort or rocket-science…it’s in the most basic of communication.  And it’s ours for the giving…any time…free of charge.  Especially at a time such as this. We just need to count to four:

1. Wave Big
2. Smile
3. Say Hello Like You Mean It
4. Ask: How are you doing?

Your Happyness Challenge for the Week Ahead: BACK TO BASICS!  It’s very easy to shrink back from everyone and isolate ourselves in fear — or skip the basics and get right into the issues that are top of mind right now (there are SO MANY!).  And while both instincts are certainly valid — they aren’t always the things that connect us.  (And in some cases, they might actually threaten to divide and separate us.)  So as you continue to both ground and distance yourself this week (all while adjusting to ever changing news and updates) — remember to CONNECT with those you encounter and count to four first…smile, wave, say hello, and ask “How are you doing?”

Spread Happyness — Stay Healthy and Stay Connected!

3/27/20 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com

Week #288 – Just Spread Happyness

Greetings Tribe:

Last week I said some weeks are happier than others…well, these are some dark times.

I’d normally be writing about the Spring Equinox right about now…in fact, it was today at 8:50p PT. The earliest vernal equinox in more than a century.

But no one noticed. And no one cared. Because at about the same time, California was issuing a state-wide “safer-at-home” mandate. Which is a fancy way of saying, “shelter in place.”

New stats today predicted that more than 50% of Californians will become infected with the Coronavirus in the next eight weeks. The “safer at home” order is a desperate attempt to slow the progress so that everyone doesn’t become sick at once and overwhelm our hospitals.

On one hand, I’m glad we’re starting now. The sooner we start, God willing, the sooner we come out the other side…healthy.

In the meantime, like most of you, I’ve suddenly found myself spending more and more time on social media. So many people are complaining about the news…but honestly, it’s my NEWSFEED that brings me down the most. We know the media is selling commercial airtime…but what are YOU selling?

Tomorrow, I’ll regain my bearings. For tonight I just want to say: Spread Happyness.

Your Happyness Challenge for the Week Ahead: Just Spread Happyness. Think before you post. There’s the old adage: “Is it true, is it kind, is it necessary?” But also, is it hopeful? Helpful? Happy? There is an Edith Wharton quote I used frequently after 9/11:

“There are two ways of spreading light…to be the candle, or the mirror that reflects it.”
(Edith Wharton)

Spread Light, Spread Love — and for everyone’s sake please, Spread Happyness.

3/20/20 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com

Week #287 – Help “Bring Smiles to Seniors“

Greetings Tribe!

Some weeks are happier than others. And this is a very difficult time for many of us. We are separated…from work, from school, from our places of worship, our families, our routines, our ability to travel, and from each other.

And one of the saddest cases of this is in nursing homes and other care facilities, where families are being told to refrain from visiting elderly relatives who are most at-risk for infection. (Source: CDC)

But one ray of light sprang to my mind: Renee Eisman, and the Bring Smiles to Seniors organization (founded by Jefferson, NJ native Ron Tyson).

I didn’t have time to interview Renee again for an update on her current activity…but I know as Mail Program Manager, her leadership and rallying of “Card Angels” is going to keep a lot of seniors connected at a time like this.

Here’s a reminder of how it all began…and a challenge to support her and her fellow card makers and senders at this critical time.

Week #117

During 2016’s Ten Weeks to Happyness, I shined a spotlight on Hopatcong, NJ native Renee Eisman — who is the Mail Program Manager for Bring Smiles to Seniors.  “Bring Smiles” is a non-profit in Odessa, FL that works with schools and organizations to decorate cards for seniors that are in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and homebound.

Their motto is “One card, one smile at a time.”

Renee’s story began a few years before that — when she first moved to Florida.  “I fell and hit my head two months after relocating.”  Renee suffered a subdural hematoma (bleeding of the brain).  Surgery and recovery followed.  “I never really had the chance to look for work.”

So Renee started mailing cards and letters to friends and family — to pass the time.

It wasn’t too soon after that Renee crossed paths with Ron Tyson (founder of Bring Smiles to Seniors) and joined the Bring Smiles team, working up to sending 150/200 cards per month in 2017…and up to 250 cards per month in 2018!

[Visit my original post here to learn the full story about how Renee got started!]

Week #176

I chatted with Renee again in January 2018 to get an update and find out her goal for the year ahead: 2,700 cards.

[Week #176 – Happyness Re-Visited: 2,000 Smiles and Counting!]

Week #221

And when I checked back with Renee in December of 2018, she not only met her goal — she blew past it! 3,000 cards and still counting at the time of that post!

[Week #221 – Happyness: It’s in the Mail!  (3,000 Smiles and STILL Counting)]

And now, their mission is critical.

Bring Smiles operates 100% on donations for all expenses and supplies to keep their program going. If you are interested in donating cards, postage, or supplies — or decorating and sending cards by yourself or with your group/organization — here’s everything you need to know:

Your Happyness Challenge for the Week Ahead: Help BRING SMILES TO SENIORS!  Visit “Bring Smiles to Seniors” on the Web or on Facebook to find out how you can donate postage, send supplies, or support their mission to send “Happy Mail” to seniors, shut-ins, or children in need.  Look for the pinned post entitled “HOW TO PARTICIPATE” — or reach out to Renee at the contact info below.  Above all, set your own goal of sending “HAPPY MAIL” in 2019 — and send smiles, “one card at a time!”

Spread Happyness — send a smile!  BRING SMILES TO SENIORS!

3/13/20 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com

(PS: Special thanks to Renee Eisman for taking the time to share her story for my original post and all the updates that followed!  To learn more about Bring Smiles to Seniors, visit them on the web at www.bringsmilestoseniors.com — or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bringsmilestoseniors — or contact Renee directly at renee@bringsmilestoseniors.com.)

Week #286 – Happy March! (And Cheers to New Beginnings!)

Greetings — and Happy March!!!

While some of you may still be buried in snow, it’s good to remember that Spring is right around the corner:

• Daylight Savings Time begins this weekend
• The Vernal Equinox is on the 19th
• And the first day of baseball season is on the 26th

They all arrive this month!

Which has me thinking about this photo of the first sight of crocuses popping through the mulch at the Jersey Shore…and a post I wrote in April 2015 (Week #27).

In that post, I recalled a phrase that Rob used to say to me: “Let the balloon go, Grace.”  He was talking about worry (and sometimes needling me about my stuff) — but it has stayed with me as I look around at the things I’ve held on to, the time it has taken to think about it all, and the time it will take (either now or later) to “do something” about it.  Even if that means ultimately just throwing it away.

And once again, as I approach the anniversary of our sudden move to Los Angeles four years ago…I’m forced to evaluate how far I’ve come, where I’m going, and what might be standing in my way. Including those unpacked moving boxes!

I’ve made some significant progress this year with my decluttering — but there is still so much past to face in those boxes. As I’ve written before, it’s hard to hold on to the past and grab on to the future at the same time. But after four years now, even I know there is no going back.  Only forward.  And that’s going to require a lot more letting go!

Do you have things that you are holding on to that might be holding you back?  Is it emotional clutter — like anger, resentment, grief, loss, a mistake, a regret, a secret, or simply a missed opportunity you are punishing yourself over?  Or maybe it’s physical things that are standing in your way?  Or a toxic relationship that is stealing your joy?

Your Happyness Challenge for the week ahead: To New Beginnings!  March is a great time to open up space for new possibilities!  This month — join me in releasing whatever is holding you back.  Clean it out, declutter it, give it away, let it go.  Find a release ritual to help you “let those balloons go” and open your hands to what’s possible.  Here are some ideas:

(But whatever you do PLEASE DO NOT release real balloons into the air…they are only a metaphor!  And otherwise very bad for the environment!)

• Write it down – then burn it (safely please!), flush it, float it out to sea, send it down a river, sink it in a lake, or bury it in your garden.  Write your NEW intention on a fresh piece of paper and keep it front and center as something for you to build on, rather than something that tears you down.
• Throw/Give it away – in past decluttering sessions, I’ve found it helpful to keep a tally of how many items I’ve thrown away, and in some instances even take photos of those items (and share them only with the closest of friends or small group).
• Love it — enough to let it go!  Sometimes the last thing we need to do to release something is to love it, to accept it, to acknowledge its importance, and to be honest about its role in our future.

They say to love something is to set it free.  I remind myself of this over and over as I sometimes grasp too tightly to things past.  I know full well I must open my hands so that they are free to do my best work: the work ahead of me.  The work of Happyness!

What do you need to let go of so that your hands are free to do YOUR best work?

Spread Happyness — and share your Release Rituals in the comments!

3/6/20 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com