Hello world!

Welcome to EOF737′s Mirth and Motivation. This is a positive kismet, motivational blog offering tips, advice, interviews, social media ruminations as well as creative, spiritual, inspirational insights on people, places, and the events that shape our lives. My wish is that this site will welcome, inform, and encourage you to connect and contribute to the ever growing online community and conversations.

One of the fundamental rules of blogging is to manage our message/content by adding value; I plan to do so here by honoring my commitment to you, dear reader, and seeking your expertise and feedback. Something I know for sure is that we all want to be heard, appreciated and respected; that truthful, timely and positive messages are far more appealing than incendiary angling for blog attention. If your blogosphere surfing brings you here, stay a while and share a positive tidbit on your worldview.

So, How should we handle the global economic shift? How do we stay mirthful and motivated?

Musings: Memories Of May…

“Men are April when they woo, December when they wed. Maids are May when they are maids, but the sky changes when they are wives.” William Shakespeare

Musings: Memories Of May… The Iris is May’s flower

Musings: Memories Of May…  The Iris is May’s flower.  White Japanese Iris

1 May Day
5 Cinco de Mayo
8 Iris Day
9 Lost Sock Memorial Day

May swept in on a cloudy Tuesday announcing its arrival on the eponymous May Day, during a New York Severe Weather Awareness Week. For the next 30 days, it offered plenty to do and celebrate during what I found to be a pretty hectic and challenging month. Had I known that in between some pretty heavy duty celebrations were some fun May holidays like Eat What You Want Day on the 11th, Dance Like a Chicken Day on the 14th, and National Macaroon Day today, the 31st, perhaps it might have felt a tad lighter. The Iris is May’s flower. Above and below are several holidays observed in May.  What memories do you hold of this month? Did you celebrate any of them?

“The world’s favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May.” Edwin Way Teale

Musings: Memories of May … The Iris is May’s flower

11 Eat What You Want Day
11 Twilight Zone Day
13 Mother’s Day
14 Dance Like a Chicken Day

We anticipated Mother’s Day with great expectations and, for some, mixed emotions… Will the day go well? Will the flowers and gifts arrive DOA? As much as it’s a day of showing appreciation for moms around the world, all that advertising and the inevitable frenzied last minute buying and selling puts a dent on pockets and egos. Those who knew got to eat plenty of what they want on the 11th and more on the 13th. Perhaps the rest of us could have enjoyed dancing like chickens or spent a day watching reruns of the The Twilight Zone on the requisite May days…

Beneath the apple blossoms I go a wintry way, For love that smiled in April Is false to me in May.” Sara Teasdale,

Musings: Memories Of May…

23 Lucky Penny Day
26 International Jazz Day
28 Memorial Day

These three distinct holidays (above)  gave me something to think about. I love picking up lucky pennies on the street, so a day dedicated to the penny was great. Jazz gives me plenty of comfort and we needn’t have waited till the 26th to celebrate it. Memorial Day brought back memories of war an an appreciation for the sacrifice made by the brave men and women we lost in countless wars. Throughout the month, blog relationships ebbed and flowed; some blogging friends disappeared and a few others bid good bye to the process by terminating their blogs… May was full of finality; a clearing for June. More below…

Inspiration: Smiling Is Infectious…

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” Leo Buscaglia

Inspiration: Smiling Is Infectious… Have you smiled today?

Inspiration: Smiling Is Infectious…

Smiling Is Infectious attributed to Karen McLendon-Laumenn/Matthew John Fraser
Smiling is infectious,
you catch it like the flu,
When someone smiled at me today,
I started smiling too.

I passed around the corner
and someone saw my grin.
When he smiled I realized
I’d passed it on to him.

I thought about that smile,
then I realized its worth.
A single smile, just like mine
could travel round the earth.

So, if you feel a smile begin,
don’t leave it undetected.
Let’s start an epidemic quick,
and get the world infected! via helpothers.org

Have you smiled today? Sometimes we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of our lives, and a smile is the furthest thing from our minds. If your day has been stressful, blissful or uneventful, take a moment to smile anyway, it will help shift your mood. Then, spread some joy around. By now, we know there’s a ton of research on the subject. Smiling increases endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin to help our immune system. It helps us relax,  express our feelings, elevate our mood and increase our confidence levels. Hey, it might even help us live longer…

“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.”  Joseph Addison

Inspiration: Smiling Is Infectious… Smiling is universal

Inspiration: Smiling Is Infectious…

Smiles by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Smile a little, smile a little,
As you go along,
Not alone when life is pleasant,
But when things go wrong.
Care delights to see you frowning,
Loves to hear you sigh;
Turn a smiling face upon her –
Quick the dame will fly.

Smile a little, smile a little,
All along the road;
Every life must have its burden,
Every heart its load.
Why sit down in gloom and darkness
With your grief to sup?
As you drink Fate’s bitter tonic,
Smile across the cup.

Smile upon the troubled pilgrims
Whom you pass and meet;
Frowns are thorns, and smiles are blossoms
Oft for weary feet.
Do not make the way seem harder
By a sullen face;
Smile a little, smile a little,
Brighten up the place.

Smile upon your undone labour;
Not for one who grieves
O’er his task waits wealth or glory;
He who smiles achieves.
Though you meet with loss and sorrow
In the passing years,
Smile a little, smile a little,
Even through your tears. via famouspoetsandpoems

What puts a smile on your face? Hugmamma and I had a funny exchange on her blog that started with the question – How do you make a laughing face? Answer – Use the punctuation mark : so it’s – Colon lol colon. It got me thinking about the beauty and power of a simple smile…  and it put one on my face. Whether we share a Duchenne smile or a Pan American smile, some key benefits are that it helps us connect, DE-stress, even improve our attitude. More below!

Reflections: Relationships Are A Gift…

“If someone is in your life, it is because they have a gift for you, and you have a gift for them.” Robert Holden

Reflections: Relationships Are A Gift… Herbert & Zelmyra Fisher. Photo credit: DL Anderson

All of our relationships bring gifts and lessons; sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet. Some  relationships are for a season; short, casual, fleeting, lacking in depth. Others are lifelong; with the complications and celebrations that accompany our journey on that path. Regardless of the strength or length of our relationships, we walk away with a gift or more — memories, emotions, lessons and even reinvented stories of the time we shared. What gifts do yours offer?

Zelmyra (103) and Herbert (105) Fisher hold the Guinness World Record as the longest married couple in the world; 88 years and counting. They were married on May 13, 1924 and maintain a strong, loving relationship. What is the secret to the longevity of their marriage? Zelmyra: “No secrets,” she says. “There isn’t any secret. It was only God that kept us together.”   Herbert: “I didn’t know I would be married this long,” he says. You may read more about their relationship in this AARP article: 86 Years of ‘I Do’ or connect with Herbert and Zelmyra Fisher on Twitter via their handle – @longestmarried  There is more below!

Musings: 20 Simple Pleasures For A Fun Summer…

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.” John Lubbock

Musings: 20 Simple Pleasures For A Fun Summer… skinny dipping

Musings: 20 Simple Pleasures For A Fun Summer… stargazing

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date . . .
William Shakespeare – “Sonnet 18,” 1–4

What are you most looking forward to doing this summer? Every summer, we run around making complicated plans to be/see/do multitude things. If we’re not planing to go somewhere, we are doing something, and it can all get quite stressful; even exhausting. For this post, I thought I’d answer the Plinky question a bit differently. Instead of what we most wish to do, how about finding some simple pleasures to help us unwind this summer? Let’s simplify our lives so we can … relax, regroup, and rejuvenate.   For the rest of this post, I’ve added a few simple pleasures we can enjoy this summer. Add your ideas to the list below and have a relaxing, fun summer. Here goes, 20 simple pleasures/tips for a fun summer:
♥Lie in the grass & stargaze on a summer evening
♥sleep in and rest more on weekends
♥Go skinny dipping at dusk or dawn
♥Try a simple 2 day rejuvenating  juice cleanse

“Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.” Sam Keen

Musings: 20 Simple Pleasures For A Fun Summer… walk on the beach

Musings: 20 Simple Pleasures For A Fun Summer… Jacuzzi fun

“Summer is the time when one sheds one’s tensions with one’s clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit. A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all’s right with the world.” Ada Louise Huxtable

♥Concoct & sip your own summer fruit cocktails in tall glasses
♥Take a dip in an outdoor jacuzzi or a bubble bath at home
♥Sit in the park and people watch
♥Take a leisurely walk on the beach

Do what we can, summer will have its flies. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Musings: 20 Simple Pleasures For A Fun Summer… Hiking

Musings: 20 Simple Pleasures For A Fun Summer… Tai chi in Bryant Park

Then followed that beautiful season… Summer….
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

♥Take a drive to the countryside
♥Hike/walk a new trail
♥Take an outdoor tai chi or yoga class
♥Learn a simple outdoor sport

There are more pleasures to indulge in below! Sending you love and light for the summer season. More below.

Memorial Day: Honor, Salute & Celebrate…

“Soldier, rest! Thy warfare o’er.  Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking. Dream of battled fields no more. Days of danger, nights of waking…”  Sir Walter Scott

Memorial Day: Honor, Salute & Celebrate… Flag at half-mast

Memorial Day: Honor, Salute & Celebrate… TY to our fallen heroes.

HONOR
This Memorial Day, which falls on the 28th of May, we will honor the many men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in military service to our country. Memorial Day was first created to honor northern soldiers who died in the Civil War. Then, it became a way to remember those who died in World War I, II and finally lives lost in all wars. In 1971, it became a federal holiday and remains the unofficial beginning of summer. As we gather to honor the memories of those lost, we are reminded again that war is, unequivocally, the lousiest option for settling disputes. Loved ones are gone and, in some instances, the wars and resentments remain…

“And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldier‘s tomb, and beauty weeps the brave.”  Joseph Drake

Memorial Day: Honor, Salute & Celebrate… WWII Roll of Honor

SALUTE
As in years past, for Memorial Day, we will pause to salute and remember those brave souls who paid the ultimate sacrifice – they gave up their lives so the rest of us might live in peace with all the freedom and advantages that come with living under a system that upholds the democratic process. Each casualty of war or MIA leaves behind loved ones, family members, and memories of what could have been… How do we ever forget? How do we forget the pain and suffering inflicted on both the victor and the vanquished? As I’ve written in other posts, one side might claim victory, but the loss of life and the deepening resentments that come from warring creates animosity and a spirit of revenge. War is devastating and its scars are indelible. So when we raise our hands in salute to our heroes, let us raise our hands also in a gesture of peace…

“Each man is a hero and an oracle to somebody.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Memorial Day: Honor, Salute & Celebrate…

CELEBRATE
To celebrate our fallen heroes, many of us will attend services, give thanks for our servicemen/women, join the parade, eat and reminisce about the lives of loved ones or strangers lost. On this day, we’ll also celebrate the lives of those who made it home; our sons, daughters, extended family and our friends in the forces. No matter how we choose to mark this occasion, whether our celebrations are boisterous or not, we must never forget that war is not the answer. Peaceful efforts should shape our daily interactions with each other as we all work together to mitigate the petty hatreds, greed, and missteps that lead us down the path to war. As a war survivor, my wish for all of us is that we stay committed to choosing peaceful options over those that glorify war. We must remain committed to PEACE as the preferred choice.  Have a Peaceful Memorial Day! More below.

Soulful Sounds: Straight No Chaser & More…

“Jazz is not just music, it’s a way of life, it’s a way of being, a way of thinking. . . the new inventive phrases we make up to describe things — all that to me is jazz just as much as the music we play.” Nina Simone

Soulful Sounds: Straight No Chaser & More… Thelonious Monk & Howard Minton

Thelonious Monk – Straight No Chaser live, London, 1965

Soulful Sounds: Straight No Chaser & More… Nina Simone

Nina Simone – Feelin’ Good

Feeling Good – Nina Simone
Birds flying high you know how I feel
Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Breeze driftin’ on by you know how I feel

It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life
For me
And I’m feeling good… Contd below

Sometimes, it is best to let the music do the talking; especially with classical jazz. I haven’t met anyone yet who didn’t enjoy a jazz composition. It is relaxing yet intricate; inviting yet complex… Enjoy it anyway and I hope you continue to feel good afterwards.

“All a musician can do is to get closer to the sources of nature, and so feel that he is in communion with the natural laws.”  John Coltrane

Soulful Sounds: Straight No Chaser & More… John Coltrane

John Coltrane – A Love Supreme, Part 1: Acknowledgement (Live 7/26/65) (disc 2)

Thelonious Monk & John Coltrane : Trinkle Tinkle

Fish in the sea you know how I feel
River running free you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree you know how I feel

Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don’t you know
Butterflies all havin’ fun you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when day is done
That’s what I mean… Contd below

Soulful Saturdays become straight up soulful sounds once the clock strikes midnight. I don’t want us to get stuck on timelines and confusing definitions. What matters is the music and how it makes us feel. Lately, when I listen to music I like, I find myself traveling back in time… to a place where contentment, light and love reside. By the way, check out my guest post. It is titled: Gratitude For Small Things and on blog buddy Deb Bryan’s popular blog – The Monster in Your Closet. Thank you!
On another nice note, WP is inviting us to submit a topic on the following:

• Recommended Bloggers – Nominate your favorite WordPress.com blogger for an interview and profile on The Daily Post.
• Why I Blog – When did you start blogging and why? What keeps you blogging? We want to know what makes your blog tick!
• My Morning Coffee – Before typing up your latest post, where do you find inspiration? Let us know your go-to sites for post ideas. Share the inspiration!

More below!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer

“How sweet I roamed from field to field, and tasted all the summer‘s pride.” William Blake

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer

A Summer Day by Lucy Maud Montgomery
I.
The dawn laughs out on orient hills
And dances with the diamond rills;
The ambrosial wind but faintly stirs
The silken, beaded gossamers;
In the wide valleys, lone and fair,
Lyrics are piped from limpid air,
And, far above, the pine trees free
Voice ancient lore of sky and sea.
Come, let us fill our hearts straightway
With hope and courage of the day. Contd below

For those of us who live in climates with clearly delineated seasons, summer is a time to shed the baggage of winter, the rains of spring, and embrace the lightness and colors of a new season. That lightness carries over to our clothing, our meals, the spring in our step, and the cascading colors of summer blossoms popping up everywhere. Summer flowers speak to me because they are my clearest indication that all the drabness of winter is surely being replaced by a burst of color. For this week’s Photo Challenge – Summer, I’ve decided to share some of the beautiful blooming flowers I’ve seen on my path to and from the aqueduct, and some I saw on my visit to the NY Botanical Gardens last summer.

“I know I am but summer to your heart, and not the full four seasons of the year.” Edna St. Vincent Millay

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer

II.
Noon, hiving sweets of sun and flower,
Has fallen on dreams in wayside bower,
Where bees hold honeyed fellowship
With the ripe blossom of her lip;
All silent are her poppied vales
And all her long Arcadian dales,
Where idleness is gathered up
A magic draught in summer’s cup.
Come, let us give ourselves to dreams
By lisping margins of her streams.Contd below

It is amazing how all that once seemed lifeless, unfurl their wings and pop up their heads in a flourish of color in the summer. I’m always nicely surprised when I come across a new planting of flowers or the return of a taller, stronger looking version of an old favorite in the summer time… When I take my walks on the aqueduct, the landscape includes homes with beautiful gardens and flowering shrubs on the pathway.  My camera captures it all and several of those pictures are in this post.  The white flowering shrub/tree above gives off an intoxicating perfume and each time I walk by it, I stop to inhale the fragrance and watch the bees at work.

“Some people plant in the spring and leave in the summer. If you’re signed up for a season, see it through. You don’t have to stay forever, but at least stay until you see it through.” Jim Rohn

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer…  See the bee?

III
Adown the golden sunset way
The evening comes in wimple gray;
By burnished shore and silver lake
Cool winds of ministration wake;
O’er occidental meadows far
There shines the light of moon and star,
And sweet, low-tinkling music rings
About the lips of haunted springs.
In quietude of earth and air
‘Tis meet we yield our souls to prayer.

Flowers and gardens have always been an important part of my life. From my earliest memories of my mother’s plantings, to my own efforts at gardening against all odds, I have come to appreciate the many steps flowering plants take to get from seed to vase… I appreciate the grace that protects hibernating perennials in the harsh winter and awakens them in warmer climes. So when I see a gorgeous bloom, I stop to both admire and applaud it. More below!