It's Joy Rebel Day! The Pilgrimage Continues ...

Join our 30-Day Pilgrimage into Joy!

Day 31: We Throw Predictability to the Wind and Follow Where Our Heart Leads 

I know that I said our "Pilgrimage into Joy" was going to be a 30-Day venture. Well, I've changed my mind. That's a girl's prerogative, right? And who can turn down a great party, anyway? 

Think of it as one of those trip extensions you can add on to your Tour. Going to Rome? Stay one week longer and visit Florence and Assisi. That's what we're doing here. We'll be taking a little sidetrip and discovering some new Joy sites along the way. 

For the next 8 days, Bella (Amy) at She Sleeps with Sea Glass, along with a number of 

others, including the oh, so rebellious Brandi, are having a Joy blowout—a Joy Rebel Blog Party—and we're invited. You can join up by visiting the sites that are mentioned here. 

Or, if you are feeling extra enthusaistic, you can jump in wholeheartedly and post on Joy at your own blog. If you do, be sure to contact Bella and let her know so that she can list your site on hers. 

And be extra sure to read Bella's post for today because what she did yesterday to spread some Joy around was absolutely amazing, delightful, and inspiring. What I am going to do to buoy a little bliss seems paltry compared to her magnanimous gestures, but this is what works for me. 

I love to spread Joy by writing letters to people. 

When I put pen to paper—after having selected a very special card or piece of notepaper just for him or her—it feels like I am whoosing the recipient with Love ... sending angel kisses ... offering blessings of well-being and regard. Well, at least that's how it feels to me. 

Letter writing, I believe, is fast becoming a lost art. 

It is a soulful practice, something people have done for eons to connect, heart-to-heart. There is something just so special about receiving a handwritten letter, don't you agree? But when was the last time you received one?

Now, with our fast paced lives and computer/phone technology, letter writing has become a thing of the past. We zip out fast e-mails or pick up the phone to call when we want to connect— which is great, don't get me wrong. But, truthfully, I miss those handwritten envelopes in my mailbox. When I see someone's personal flourish upon paper, my heart simply sings. I feel like we are really plugged in, soul-to-soul.

I treasure the cards and letters I receive and keep them in a very special place. I come from a family of letter writers and I have in my possession the love letters that both sets of grandparents wrote to each other in the 1920s, one set penned during wartime from France. I have all my father's letters he wrote to his parents when he was in the Navy in WWII. I have all the cards my children ever gave me; the letters my daughter sent me from Iraq when she was stationed there as a Marine in 2002; the letters my husband and I sent to one another when we were "courting." True, many of these were e-mails, but I printed them out and now they rest safely in a special folder. 

And I admit, I have drawers and bins full of stationary and cards and I have a paper fetish. Given a few extra dollars in my pocketbook, I will buy notecards. I can't help myself. I love to whoosh people with Love.

So today my Joy Party is on the quiet side, but that's just me. I'll be writing letters ...

What will you do to spread a little Joy today?

I'm eager to hear...

~~~~~

Congratulations to Caroline at The Zen in You and Whimsy Whispers! She is the winner of Cindy La Ferle's wonderful book, Writing Home.  Enjoy!!!

"Angels Kissing" image courtesy of jbgraphic.com/ childrenart.html