Category: Journaling

october is all about pink

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Picture.Pink 4 TeamML6I’m very excited today because tomorrow, Saturday, October 17th, I’m running in the 12th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run, a 5K created by the Huntsville Hospital Foundation and the Liz Hurley Breast Cancer Fund. The fund was established to create awareness about breast cancer, purchase equipment for breast cancer diagnosis, and provide continuing education for Breast Cancer staff. Liz Hurley, a local news anchor, was diagnosed in 1998 and promptly put a popular face on breast cancer in the Tennessee Valley. So far 3 million dollars has been raised. Check it out here.

This will be my 4th Liz Hurley. I had to skip last year’s due to having a kid two and a half weeks prior to the race. Yep, that’s right. He’s one of the reasons that I disappeared from blogging for a while. And while October is also about his birthday, it is also mostly about pink.

Just like the year before, I am running on Micha Logan’s team, TeamML6. Micha is a former classmate of mine at my alum, Oakwood College (University) that was diagnosed with breast cancer and beat it a few years ago. Having someone that was so close to me in age be diagnosed was yet another confirmation to me that the journey that I had begun to be “comfortable being”, as well as take care of myself was a very necessary journey. Check out Micha’s website and first book, Just for a Season here. She was also featured in this month’s edition of Guidepost Magazine. You can read the article here.

I run for a number of reasons. Running is meditative, therapy, and a spiritual practice, as well as plain old exercise. It’s something that I enjoy immensely and running in the Liz Hurley Ribbon Race on TeamML6 is one of the high points of my year.

What do you do that is a high point of your year? Please comment by clicking on the speech bubble by the title. Can’t wait to see your responses.

enjoy life…

friday’s “secret”: again, don’t wait to pursue your interest – what i did

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Picture. Mailbox

Growing up, one of my favorite things to do was to write and receive letters. I would rush to the mailbox every day, looking for mail from my friends.

A few months ago, my friend, Jessica, posted a pic on Facebook of a collection of letters she had stumbled across that I had sent her over 8 years or so. It got me to thinking about the joy of letter writing again – not texting, emailing, etc. but good old-fashioned letter writing. I missed it.

That thought idled in the back of my mind until a Facebook friend posted about the Love Notes Postcard Project: A simple and fun project to spread a little “goodness and joy” throughout the world. I only needed a few things: three postcards, three stamps, and an open heart. I immediately signed up.

I was paired with another participant. Each Sunday, for three weeks, a writing prompt would be sent to my email inbox. I would have to respond to the prompt on a postcard and then drop it in the mail before the next Friday. And then I await a postcard from my matched participant.

This week is our first week. The writing prompt was “Smile Because” and I had so much fun composing my note. Some of it rhymed!!!

If never ceases to amaze me how the little things, like pursuing my letter writing interest, can bring such happiness and enjoyment to my existence!

You can check out The Love Notes Postcard Project and other blogger participants here and catch up with the creator, Jennifer Belhoff here.

enjoy life…

the return

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It has taken me far too long to write this post and even longer to publish it! Can you believe my Word document last revised date is May 4th.

I could go into all of the reasons (and there are many and some may even be valid) as to why I disappeared over the past two years. I may over time. But if I am being wholly honest and speaking the absolute truth, the fact of the matter is that I got scared!

I was afraid and I still am!

People I know and people I didn’t know were reading this thing, commenting, and saying how much they enjoyed it! Fortunately, I hadn’t come across anyone who said that it was awful and that would have scared me even more. I began to feel pressure, admitted entirely of my own making, to post something wonderful and witty and funny and insightful all the time.

And in my fear, I didn’t post a thing!

Instead, I read about fear, talked to my friends about fear, and attempted to analyze my fear, and quaking in my boots, I came to some conclusions.

One of my problems was I forgot why I started this blog in the first place: (1) To share my experiences and my thoughts (for what they are worth) on things that make me happy and, I believe, could make you, the reader, happy as well. (2) To make me happy, too!

 This blog did make me happy. Once! And then I became afraid. But, I have decided to write in spite of my fear. And, as it turns out, doing something in spite of fear is essential if you want to…

enjoy life…