Someone wrote elsewhere, about Just Add Light and Stir:
I really didn’t like Sandra’s blog, sure there is a lot of useful information, but the “cheerful” tone creeps me out!A lot of useful information would be sufficient, I think, for a daily blog with over 800 subscribers. But I'm creeping someone out with a "'cheerful' tone"?! First, it's not "cheerful" in quotes, not allegedly cheerful. It actually *is* cheerful. 🙂
Cynicism is poison. It erodes relationships. It saps one's spirit and dissolves faith and hope. I will choose cheeriness over pissiness anytime I can manage to do it, and I hope most of those reading here are able to make that choice too, for the sake of themselves and their families. For their neighbors, for their dogs. For safety while operating motor vehicles and other machinery. For success at work, and joy while grocery shopping.
Negativity sucks. It sucks the possibility of a joyful life directly out of a person, and if it's not stopped, it will spread to others.
Smiles can spread, too, though. Kindness can be contagious. You choose a hundred times a day to smile or to frown, to breathe in joy or to suck in resentment.
Live responsibly, especially while you have children in your home.
photo by Sandra Dodd, in the alley behind the house
__
oh sandra! you simply can't win can you? i've heard people call you too negative and now you're too cheerful? well, i love this blog. it's real and resonates with our not always perfect but choosing-happiness-more-than-not lives.
ReplyDeleteThis is crazy... Really? ...someone said that?!
ReplyDeleteWell, I am happy to say that with this post I learned something new today. Contagion. I had no idea what that word meant, Googled it, saw there is a movie with the name as the title and then read the words meaning.
This blog embodies all there is of unschooling ...point made above!!
I hope the happiness bug catches everyone that reads your blog Sandra! I hope it makes them "creep out" of their homes and into the world with their children! Living joyfully, peacefully, and HAPPILY because your post for the day sparked a good feeling in a parent that needed the uplift.
Thank you Sandra.. Keep the cheerios coming!...hold the cows milk though.. I am vegan ;)
Nice "creep out," Sunfairie. :-)
ReplyDeleteLaura wrote "oh sandra! you simply can't win can you?" Maybe it's a win to know that people are disturbed by the idea of joy. When they're disturbed, it will make them think. Their thinking negative things about me doesn't hurt my children's happiness a bit.
Yesterday was Holly's 20th birthday party (her birthday was during the week). We played table games with seven to fourteen people, varyingly, until late. There was food. There was fun. After I had written last night's "Just Add Light," Holly came down to say her boyfriend was still here, but the others had all gone home. She told me how much fun it had been, and thanked me and hugged me good night.
I'm certain that in many other homes, young-adult children were having less peaceful moments with parents. I'm sure that any parent who is creeped out by a cheerful tone is less likely to have had the kind of afternoon and evening I had with my daughter and her friends.
I love this blog! You are helping me a better, more thoughtful person, which in turn makes me a better wife and a better mom! I choose cheerfulness! :-)
ReplyDeleteI came here to comment hoping I would be the first to say how much this touched me today! I love all the posts here, but this one really stood out for me! Makes me so grateful to be a mom and have the power to always make a difference with my smile and actions.
ReplyDeleteYou are a brave woman, Sandra. Thanks for your strength and voice.
Aack! The positive vibe of this blog is exactly why I visit! Thanks for keeping it authentically cheerful.
ReplyDeleteI love the cheerful tone !! I come here for it ! And to get refreshed, smile, learn something new . . . Thank you especially for the cheerfulness !
ReplyDeleteThis post touched me deeply today. I really need it. I received your daily posts in my mail box and I really love what I read, so often, it makes my day. I need a lot and a lot of your cheerful words... maybe because their was not a lot of cheer in my own childhood... and sometimes, because I find it difficult sometimes to put cheer in our daily activities !
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Sandra, your cheerful is love, it's obvious !
Edith