Stay soft
it looks beautiful on you...
"Love a soft person. The kind whose heart breaks over puppies and injured children. Someone who cries over sad endings in movies.
Love a soft person. A human being who always has a kind smile for everyone, even when they do not get a smile back in return.”
The last few weeks I have been trying to be more gentle with myself. I have felt the need to separate myself from the online barrage of negative news stories and the surrealness of our current events.
As fall morphs into winter, I have attempted to surround myself with people and activities that make me feel comfortable and give me a sense of love and joy.
There is actually a Danish word that was added to the Oxford English dictionary in 2017 to describe this feeling - hygge (pronounced “hooga”).
According to the website Denmark.dk, “Hygge is about taking time away from the daily rush to be together with people you care about - or even by yourself - to relax and enjoy life's quieter pleasures.
The word hygge dates back to around 1800, at least in the meaning it has today. However, various definitions of hygge can be traced back to the Middle Ages, where a similar Old Norse word meant "protected from the outside world.
Hygge is often about informal time together with family or close friends. Typically, the setting is at home or another quiet location, or perhaps a picnic during the summer months. It usually involves sharing a meal and wine or beer, or hot chocolate and a bowl of candy if children are included. There is no agenda. You celebrate the small joys of life, or maybe discuss deeper topics. It is an opportunity to unwind and take things slow.”
For me, hygge is a great excuse for embracing my softer side, which unfortunately, in today’s world, can be seen as a weakness. But I have always strongly disagreed with that conclusion. Instead, I believe softness is more like a super power.
Being a soft and gentle soul means you care…about the people in your life, your community, your church, your world…You care and you view others not as adversaries but as fellow human beings - each with their own unique experiences and stories.
If you stop and think about the softer souls in your life, how they celebrate your accomplishments and how they encourage and protect you when you are at your most vulnerable, I’m sure you will agree with me that anytime we can embrace our softer side, and spend time with others who feel the same, our world is a much safer and more enjoyable place.
So why not take this opportunity to be kinder to yourself and those around you?
I hope this week you spend some time embracing the softer side of life and find something that gently reminds you of the blessings that surround you.
When we take the time to slow down and take a closer look at the people and the experiences that bring us joy…that is when we begin to tap into the concept known as “happiness”...
For now I am trying to focus on the following saying and all that it expresses, “To have a soft, gentle heart in a hard-skinned world is simply genius…to believe in the magic it brings to a world where it seems most have forgotten it...that’s the stuff miracles are made of…”
What do you think?
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Tranquil Moments…
I asked my niece, Jennifer Malphy, if she could share some of her nature photos with my newsletter audience. Each week I will feature a new photo. Here is this week’s:
This week’s Smile video…
For Earl Guynes and his son, Jared, cars have always been their love language. And through the years, the one thing they've talked about most is the 1967 Chevy Camaro Earl used to own, but had to sell when he started a family. Steve Hartman goes "On the Road" to learn about the touching gift Jared gave his dad to pay it back all these years later.
#believe #smilevideos #spreadkindnessandlove
Kid President’s 25 Reasons To Be Thankful
Life can be tough. It’s important to always take time to remember the things that make life awesome. This is just the start of a list. It’s only 25 things. Obviously, there are more! What else would you add?
What I am reading…
This week I started reading a book entitled The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to a Happy Living by Meik Wiking. .
The Amazon description is as follows, “Why are Danes the happiest people in the world? The answer, says Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, is Hygge. Loosely translated, Hygge―pronounced Hoo-ga―is a sense of comfort, togetherness, and well-being. "Hygge is about an atmosphere and an experience," Wiking explains. "It is about being with the people we love. A feeling of home. A feeling that we are safe."
Hygge is the sensation you get when you’re cuddled up on a sofa, in cozy socks under a soft throw, during a storm. It’s that feeling when you’re sharing comfort food and easy conversation with loved ones at a candlelit table. It is the warmth of morning light shining just right on a crisp blue-sky day.
The Little Book of Hygge introduces you to this cornerstone of Danish life, and offers advice and ideas on incorporating it into your own life, such as:
Get comfy. Take a break.
Be here now. Turn off the phones.
Turn down the lights. Bring out the candles.
Build relationships. Spend time with your tribe.
Give yourself a break from the demands of healthy living. Cake is most definitely Hygge.
Live life today, like there is no coffee tomorrow.
From picking the right lighting to organizing a Hygge get-together to dressing hygge, Wiking shows you how to experience more joy and contentment the Danish way.”
What I am watching this week…
I came across a documentary on Netflix called Return of the King: The Fall and the Rise of Elvis Presley. As I watched it, I learned more about one of my favorite entertainers.
One interesting fact was that Elvis loved gospel music. His first of four Grammys was awarded for his gospel recording How Great Thou Art and the documentary emphasized how much Elvis loved that genre of music.
This show brought me back to listening more to Elvis’s music this week and I am very grateful for that. I am listening to his gospel recordings and they are beautiful.
Interesting thoughts…
Purloined from the Facebook page of a friend and fellow voice teacher:
Howard Zinn, shared by Leslie Frank:
“TO BE HOPEFUL in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
Mind/Body connections…
Join me for one of my favorite pranayama practices, Bhramari Pranayama, or bee breath! The low pitched hum of Bhramari Pranayama stimulates the vagus nerve which in turn helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system. This breath practice effectively helps us to find CALM. It is beautiful for relieving tension, anxiety, and frustration. This is a wonderful practice to work with if you are wanting to take your pranayama to the next level. However, this humming breath can also be very playful and fun - which makes it perfect for all ages!
Comedy Lift…
I love to share funny cartoons or memes with friends and family. Who doesn’t need to smile? Here’s this week’s Comedy Lift…
Music Moments
Music inspires me in many ways. Here’s Elvis singing How Great Thou Art...Enjoy!
Quote of the week
Until next week. Please remember…Begin and end each day with a grateful heart…and always, always be kind….
Have you ever found yourself in a hard situation, and everyone is fighty, and it seems impossible? But then you just said “Ok, I’m just going to let this go” and just witenessed the situation?
I’ve found that if I remember to react this way with softness, usually the situation solves itself, dissolves, or even reverses!