Uplifting?

I am ashamed to say that I keep forgetting about Easter this week. I love Easter - the part about rebirth, renewal, second chances all that stuff... and Peeps. I admit I love those little squishy marshmallow critters too.  Take a look at the blog "Radmegan - In Words and Pictures"- she has THE cutest needle-felted peeps. A great way to avoid the calories but still soak in the cuteness. She has them for sale on her Etsy site too.

It seems so much happens in a single week, heck, a single day - that I often only blog "in my head". Seriously, I walk around writing posts and thinking of links and then can't seem to get to the computer what with one thing and another. I started this post yesterday and planned to write about Rosa, the little girl in town who was hit by a truck while riding her bike. She wasn't wearing a helmet, and she actually hit the truck. But everytime I started to write, something came up. By last night, I couldn't bear thinking about it anymore and I also realized that the last time I wrote my feelings about a death, I actually lost a (still-living) friend. Yep, I was "unfriended" on Facebook for expressing my own thoughts on suicide. So, I will suppress my thoughts this time. In honor of Rosa, AND the poor guy driving the truck, here is an amazingly "uplifting" video I found on SwissMiss (a fantastic design blog).

And today, of all days, I keep reminding myself that people are basically good. It is really easy to get caught up in the flood of grief and sadness - not just for these really awful accidents, but the everyday snafus, annoyances, and plain old yuck. We forget to celebrate our own achievements because we don't want to seem selfish. We forget to hug our kids because we are pissed that they made a mess or ignored our commands. We don't notice the hardworking daffodil buds pushing through the moldy piles of leaves we have to rake up, if only we had some time to do yard work...

Whether or not you are religious or spiritual or cynical... this is as good a weekend as any to pay attention to the possibilities around you. Shake off your old skin, open a window, revive an old project, dig up your optimism, eat a cupcake and ENJOY it. Second chances. What can you make out of your lemons? Come on people - we are supposed to be CREATIVE! Put down the sh@t sandwich and make yourself a new snack. (If you need your butt kicked into gear, check out Marie's site.)

Trust me, I'm just as cranky and gloomy as the rest of the world, when need be, and I don't walk around whistling and looking for silver linings... but I am TRYING to pay attention. So, I leave you with an example.

Yesterday, the sun was shining, but the whole town was oozing sadness because of Rosa's memorial service to be held that night. There was even a news van stationed in front of town hall. And the wind was blowing so hard stuff was flying around Main Street. As I trudged back home, the wind flying down the mountain was so strong, I actually had to turn my back to it in order to breathe! As I turned, my eye was caught by some extreme tree damage to a neighbor's property. Big branches down. My cranky brain said "Bummer of a clean up job. I wonder why they haven't gotten started yet." But as I started to turn back into the wind, my artist's eye discovered WHY they hadn't cleaned up yet. (No, not baby birds! That's way too cute!) This neighbor had seen the possibilities in the destruction and "carved" them out! And if the annoying, cold wind hadn't forced me to turn around, I wouldn't have ever known that this neighbor was creative and had a sense of humor!