A Note of Thanks

Gifts by Polly Goncalves on Flicker CC BY NC In another installment of things I didn't actually know existed, February 17 was Random Acts of Kindness day. A day devoted to small tokens of appreciation to people you know, barely know or who are complete strangers. I like to think of thank you notes often as random acts of kindness. People don't often realize the impact their positive attitude, willingness to help or simple gestures have on the people around them, so a hand-written thank you note many times appear random. While I honestly believe most people enjoy the unexpected surprise of a hand-written note, sometimes I feel like a small gift included with those notes makes the surprise even better. I've gotten in the habit of including a little something extra when I can, especially for those notes that are hand delivered. Here are a few of my favorites: Chocolate: High-quality, individually wrapped candies such as Ghirardelli or Godiva are pretty easy to come b...

Day 148: The End of the Line by Bruce Guenter on Flickr CC BY Have you ever found an amazing TED talk that just blows your mind, but when you start sharing it, you realize everyone has already seen it? That's how I feel after learning about InCoWriMo. I've known about NaNoWriMo for awhile, thanks to a bumper sticker I saw a few years ago and was so perplexed by the acronym that I had to look it up. But as a hand-written note fan, I'm a little disappointed that InCoWriMo is celebrating their fifth anniversary and I'm just now hearing about it. What is InCoWriMo? International Correspondence Writing Month is dedicated to writing letters by hand. One letter a day for the 28 days of February. Their website , tagged vintage social media, provides more information. The goal is to write something that will be delivered to someone else. A letter. A note. A postcard. It doesn't even have to be mailed. With a nod to More Love Letters , it can be as simple as...

Small by Jh.44 CC BY on Flickr In proof once again that pronoia is a thing, I stumbled upon  Adam Rifkin's amazing post on the meaning of happiness. It's long, but awesome. You should read it. His list of five-minute favors really spoke to me. In this time of societal upheaval and uncertainty, my initial instinct is to put my head in the sand and wait for someone else to fix it. But I know that won't work. Even so, I've never been an outspoken person. I stopped wanting to do anything with politics after I lost the election for Class Secretary in 6th grade. I've never been to a protest or called my senator. While it never even crossed my mind to jump on a plane to join the Women's Marches in DC and other places, I watched with mad respect for all the people there sharing their voices. But that's not me. I have to remember that it's okay to start small. There are people around me who need an act of kindness, and those small acts help others feel...