When a Habit Originates in the Heart

Every year, as National Letter Writing Week (second week in January) rolls around, I feel compelled to comment on my mother's life long routine of daily letter writing. In part, because mickeysjoy is dedicated to this particular joy of my mother's but it also seems so appropriate to a time of year when people typically set new goals in an effort to improve their lives and then struggle to keep them.

My mother's letter writing began at a time when long distance communication was limited to the mailed letter or calls made using an impractical and often expensive telephone service. It wasn't a part of a lofty goal or a New Year's resolution. (Mickey didn't write New Year's resolutions.) She simply missed her family and her friends and wanted them to know they were in her thoughts. What started as a simple act of staying in touch turned into a habit of celebrating friendships that lasted her entire life even when technology provided more efficient forms of communication. It was truly a habit born of her heart.

Aristotle proclaimed, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act but a habit."

If the resolutions, we choose, are meant to establish goals we perceive will improve our lives, then we need to choose those goals with care. They need to reflect our values... not the the things of worth that society or well-meaning acquaintances dictate. The steps necessary to achieve those goals might take some serious brain work but, I believe the resolutions themselves, needs to reflect something we simply find significant in our hearts.  Maybe then, those resolutions will turn into actions we stick to for more than a few weeks. Actions that result in personal excellence. Just a thought... arising from looking at the way my mom lived her life. And something I need to remember, myself.

Happy New Year!

A Comment Box, A Comment Box, My Kingdom for a Comment Box

It's not really a tragedy that my blog has been without a comment box for months but it is sort of  a pathetic calamity that I would simply view my lack of comments as a reflection of my blog's readability or my friends' lack of computer savvy.  Exactly, what does that say about me? It's a rhetorical question and I finally got some professional help, for the computer problem, so kindly, don't make my first comments an answer to that question!


When I created "mickeysjoy", my goal was to share the memories of my mother's love of letter writing. Her dedication to that letter writing was such a wonderful example of the way she celebrated life and friendship. But my parents were both celebrators of life. Special occasions were recognized but ordinary days were full of ritual and tradition and considered as meaningful as the big events, in our family. I yearned to share some of those sweet stories.


As an adult, I found I was lucky enough to be surrounded by friends who recognized experiencing life through fun and silliness can be serious business. Enriching life through celebrations, of all kinds, just became a part of who I am and I found myself anxious to share some of those "grown-up" stories, mixed in with the stories from earlier times.


I envisioned "mickeysjoy", the blog, to be a sort of collaborative journey. Hopefully, readers would come away with some ideas that they could incorporate into their own celebrations of life. Perhaps the stories would just rekindle fond memories or make them laugh. Either way, I'd be celebrating with them.


From the very beginning, I have received warm feedback from my friends. They sent me e-mails, posted comments on Facebook or called me on the phone. I appreciated and loved their feedback but I did wonder why I never received an official comment in my comment box. Post after post, I'd stare at an empty comment box. Then one day...the comment box disappeared!


As it turns out, I didn't have to trade my kingdom for a comment box. I just needed to find someone, who (unlike me) was not a digital immigrant and could easily solve my problem. So, now my comment box appears at the bottom of my posts and is open for comments. I'd love to hear your thoughts on my posts as well as some of your personal celebrations of life. Together we can make this truly a collaborative journey!