Live the Joy
JOY ~ Journey of You April 16, 2010 |
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Past joy droppings feed the soul.
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This weekend is the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop (EBWW). I call it the Erma Love Fest (ELF).
The 3-day event in Dayton, Ohio happens every two years. (If two weeks is a fortnight, is two years a fortday?) I went to the 2008 hoopla. It was my first writers conference and I met two folks who have become angels in my life. (Hey MJ in Michigan, and Carlsbad,CA Lois!) (I met Garrison Keillor too - he kissed me right here- but he has not kept in touch.) This year, I'm bringing a young aspiring writer. Hopefully she will meet some angels too.
That's the fun in life. We don't know who is gonna cross our path at the right time and the right place. The key is to be on the path, and not sitting at home on our tush watching the telly.
Is there something tugging at your heartstrings? Do you want to write? Pick up a pen and jot down something. Do you want to paint? Pick up a brush and swirl something. Do you want to leap tall buildings in a single bound? Go stretch your legs and work on your flexibility. While you are taking a baby step towards your goal, someone will come along and help you on your way. It could be a word of encouragement; it could be an important networking contact; it could be a lesson in how to improve your skill. It could be Superman.
On the flipside, you never know when you could be an angel to someone else. Give the encouragement, the contact, the lesson. You can be Superman. Even if you're not faster than a speeding bullet.
Words to Ponder~
It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else.
~Erma Bombeck |
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| Lyrics to love | |
"She could dance all night and shake the paint off the walls"
"And We Danced"
If you search YouTube without the "and," you get Brad Paisley. (I'll take him any day.)
and because I have to do things in threes ;) here's one more.....
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| Poetry is good for the soul | |
Mind is the master power that molds and makes,
And we are Mind, and evermore we take
The tool of thought, and shaping what we will,
Bring forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills,
We think in secret, and it comes to pass -
Our world is but our looking glass.
-- James Allen
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| Picks this week |
Book Pick - something Erma
Flick Pick - something silly
Your JOY assignment this week:
Read a few pages of something funny/positive/uplifting every night before bed. |
| Birthday Love | |
HAPPYHAPPYJOYJOY BIRTHDAY WISHES TO:
MARY BECKER/MARY SUNSHINE!
CHARLOTTE BRONTE
ALICE TSAI
THOMAS JEFFERSON
AND to
ALL who are celebrating this week/month/year
BEYONCE WISHES YOU A HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
(Send in your birthday. Each month a name is drawn for a JOY prize delivered via snail mail.)
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| Inquiring Minds |
The question was....
Cake OR Pie?
Holy moly, you guys love pie! (and A LOT of you want both!) (As Michelle Meredith put it, Cake weekly, pie on special occasions!) Cake got some votes, but no contest, Pie was the winner.
INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW:
Can you dance all night and shake the paint off the walls?
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When humor goes, there goes civilization.
~Erma Bombeck
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| Sage Advice | |
FROM WRITERS ALMANAC:
In 1905, Albert Einstein wrote a paper on the Special Theory of Relativity, which is that if the speed of light is constant and if all natural laws are the same in every frame of reference, then both time and motion are relative to the observer. That same year, he published three more papers, each of which was just as revolutionary as the first, among them the paper that included his most famous equation: E = mc2. E is energy, m is mass, and c stands for the velocity of light.
Einstein received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1921. He said, "The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives."
Einstein also said : Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.
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| Speaking Gigs (living my joy!) | |
April 1 - Happiness Club
April 15-18 - Erma Bombeck Writer Workshop
April 19 - Christian Life Retirement Center Seniors - Living in JOY
April 21-25 - AATH Conference
A month of keynotes!!
May 6 - Shelter Care Annual Luncheon Keynote Speaker
May 6 - HAPPINESS CLUB 6:30 pm
May 8 - Garden Prairie UCC Mother-Daughter Tea
May 12 - OSF Nurses Week Awards Banquet
May 15 - AAUW Sorority Keynote
May 18 - Byron Women's Club Spring Luncheon
May 20 - Alpine Seniors - Living in JOY
May 21-23 Words in Play retreat, Sunapee NH
Upcoming Events that are open to ALL:
I love receiving invitations to do workshops, program presentations, and keynotes.
Now I am also inviting you to join me on the JOY Journey:
Writing & Creative Expression Workshops (dates TBA)
JOY Workshops (dates TBA)
JOY Retreats (dates TBA)
JOY Dance Party! (tentative Oct 1)
Joy: A Luncheon at Briggs Mansion (tentative Dec 2)
Weeklong Creative Expression/Joy Retreat, in ITALY, May 5 -12, 2011
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| ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE... | |
The Joy of Writing
Journaling, poetry, short stories, creative nonfiction, novels - what brings you joy? We'll get the creative juices jumping with fun exercises and discuss how to get going, keep going, and maintain the joy of writing all throughout your life. If your goal is to be published, we'll cover that too. Learn the Basic Do's and Don'ts, how to find markets for your writing, and there'll be time for lots of Q&A in this casual, interactive workshop. I find my joy through writing; let's discover yours!
Send name, address, email, and check payable to Kelly Epperson, $65, to
PO Box 2324, Loves Park, IL 61131
Evening Workshop: June 2, 6 pm - 8:30 pm
Day Workshop: June 4, 10 am - 12:30 pm
North Suburban Library Community Room, 6340 N. Second, Loves Park |
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HAPPINESS CLUB, LOVES PARK, IL
NEXT MEETING:
Thursday, May 6
6:30 pm - 8:30 PM
North Suburban Library, 6340 N. Second St., Loves Park, IL |
| Word Nerd | |
Today's Word: Opsimathy (Noun)
Pronunciation: [ahp-'si-m�-thi]
Definition 1: (Literary) Late learning, learning late in life.
Usage 1: A person who takes on learning late in life is an "opsimath" ['ahp-si-m�th], as a "polymath" (poly "many" + math) is someone of encyclopedic learning or polymathy [pa-'li-m�-thi]).
Suggested Usage: As the English-speaking population ages and the limits of life expectancy advance, opsimathy promises to become more prominent and the word less literary and more colloquial. Opsimathy was once frowned upon, considered less effective by educators than early learning. However, any university administrator will tell you that the opsimath population is growing in the U.S.
Etymology: Greek opse "late" + math- "learning." "Mathematics" shares the same origin; it derives from the adjective of mathema "science, learning" from manthanein "to learn." -Dr. Language, yourDictionary.com
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Would Erma be considered an opsimath since she wrote her first column at age 37? |
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"I'm not normally a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me, Superman!"
~Homer Simpson
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AATH (Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor) Conference and HUMOR ACADEMY in Anaheim, CA April 22-25. Wanna get your happy on? Come learn how! Visit aath.org or ask me.
Want to join/launch a Happiness Club in your area? Visit happinessclub.com or americanhappiness.org or ask me. |
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joyfully,
xxkelly
I suggest we all try defying gravity.
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| SIGN UP FOR WEEKLY JOY AND PASS IT ON
Spread the word! Let's build an army of JOY Spreaders! | | parting shot....
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me". Erma Bombeck |
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Kelly Epperson
kel_epperson@yahoo.com
PO Box 2324 Loves Park IL 61131
Member AATH - Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor
Member AHA - American Happiness Association
Founder - Happiness Club of Loves Park, IL
Member NSNC - National Society of Newspaper Columnists |
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| JOY |
New book, 365 Days of Joy, is in the works and coming soon. $20
(hmm, how long can I keep saying "soon"?) |
| When LIfe Stinks, It's Time to Wash the Gym Clothes (collection of newspaper columns) $10
Shirts ~C'est Bon and JOY*US $10 |
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