June, A Three Birthstone Month ~ by Grace Augustine

June babies are lucky. They have a choice of birthstones in today’s society. Traditionally, the pearl is known as June’s gemstone. In later years moonstone and Alexandrite were added. One theory for that is because of the zodiac sign of Gemini which encompasses a part of the month. Another theory is that other stones were chosen because of the rarity of the birthstone.

The Pearl
“Ancients from the Middle East believed that pearls were teardrops

Photo courtesy DepositPhotos

fallen from heaven. The Chinese fancied that the June birthstone came from the brain of a dragon. Christopher Columbus and his contemporaries thought that mollusks formed pearls from dew drops.”**

We all know that pearls grow inside oysters or mollusks. To explain a bit about that…a particle of sand or other medium infiltrates the shell of the oyster/mollusk, which secretes a substance called nacre, and covers the infiltrate. This is how a Natural Pearl is formed. Cultured Pearls are a bit different. A technician places a piece of mantle tissue or a mother of pearl shell bead into the oyster/mollusk and it is again covered with nacre. However, these mollusks/oysters are in “farms” that are taken care of by humans and protected from predators.

A symbol of purity and innocence, the pearl has been given for centuries as gifts at weddings. The beneficial properties of pearls include prosperity, long life, alleviating indigestion, improving eyesight, and quelling depression.

Pearls require special attention when caring for them since they are one of the softest gems we have, coming in at a 2.5-3.0 on the mohs scale. Store your pearls separately from other jewelry so they will not be damaged by metal. Never store them in a plastic bag, and always put on your pearls AFTER use of hairspray and perfumes. They should be cleaned with a soft cloth after each use.

THE MOONSTONE
“Moonstone is the best-known gem of the feldspar group of

Photo courtesy Pinterest

minerals. It is renowned for its adularescence, the light that appears to billow across a gemstone, giving it a special glow. The finest moonstones show a blue sheen against a colorless background. This June birthstone has been associated with both the Roman and Greek lunar deities. Hindu mythology claims that it is made of solidified moonbeams. Moonstone is often associated with love, passion and fertility; it is believed to bring great luck.” **

The Moonstone was added to the June birthstones during the 60’s flower child movement and again in 1990 during an insurgence of New Age artwork.

Moonstones are found North Carolina, New Mexico, and Virginia, but also in a variety of countries around the world, most notably Sri Lanka and India.

The moonstone isn’t a stable gem, meaning it can crack under pressure. So, no ultrasonic cleaning for this beauty. A light solution of soapy water and a soft brush will suffice then a gentle polishing with a soft cloth.

THE ALEXANDRITE
This gem is named after the young Russian, Alexander II, the heir

Photo courtesy Riddle Jewelry

apparent to the throne in the 1800’s. Alexandrite’s colors are the same as the military of Imperial Russia.

“Alexandrite is the rare variety of the mineral chrysoberyl that changes color in different lighting. Most prized are those alexandrite birthstones that show a vivid green to bluish green in daylight or fluorescent light, and an intense red to purplish red in incandescent light. When certain types of long, thin inclusions are oriented parallel to each other in this June birthstone, they can create another phenomenon, called chatoyancy or the cat’s-eye effect. Few gems are as fascinating – or as stunning – as cat’s-eye alexandrite.” **

Due to mining, the deposits of Alexandrite in the Ural Mountains were depleted. Most of this gem is mined in Brazil, Sri Lanka, and East Africa. It is one of the more expensive colored gems because of its scarcity.

Coming in on the Mohs scale at an 8.5, this gem is fairly hard and because of that is a great choice for an everyday wear. Caring for your Alexandrite is as simple as a swish in warm soapy water and drying with a soft cloth.

To view the other posts in this series or any of my others, please click HERE.

**information in italics is from http://www.gia.edu

Moving Day by Ruth Ross Saucier

We had just bought our first house together. We were out of school but hardly rich yet, so when we asked for help moving from our second story apartment to our new-to-us home, our friends and family volunteered.

Gracious help, graciously given.  Priceless.

One of our friends, let’s call him Keith (a total pseudonym) offered to bring a truck to make the move happen. He worked for a local pizza company that has since closed, driving huge delivery trucks that carried pizza ingredients, large bags of flour and the like, between the stores. But the trucks weren’t used after work hours, so our move was scheduled for the evening.

When you’re young, you don’t have as much stuff; but I’ve never been involved in a move that didn’t have more stuff than you initially estimated. Stuff was everywhere, surfacing from nooks and crannies, popping out of the backs of closets, and spilling out of the remote corners of kitchen cabinets. I had not had time to box it all, not even close.

But there were at least 20 people there, some of them finishing packing and some shuffling boxes and furniture out the back door and down a fifteen-foot ramp to the parking lot and then hoisting things up into the truck. 20 people is a lot of people and very quickly I was scrambling to just cram things in boxes and tell people “yes” when they asked if this or that could go.  Wasn’t long before nobody was asking permission, and everything was flying out the door.

I took the five mile ride up I-5 in the pizza truck, most of it between five and thirty miles an hour.  Not because traffic was bad, you understand.  While this was Seattle, it was 1981. Traffic was moving. Everybody else was doing sixty or more and zipping around the monster truck, blatting their horns just to make sure that we understood we were in the way.  Keith was just struggling to shift, as he hadn’t driven these trucks much, and we were busy trying to ignore the wrath of everyone else who was trying to get home.

When we finally reached our 40’s bungalow, the opposite happened very quickly: stuff flew out of the truck, got hauled up the stairs and carted up the hill into the house where it went … somewhere.  Much of it happened without a lot of supervision, but then it mostly went fine. 

Now as it happened, way back when we had first moved into the apartment it did not include a refrigerator, but the former tenants offered to sell us theirs, and we grabbed it.  It was big, with lovely swing out shelves, and a big bottom freezer. It housed an enormous amount of stuff.  I loved that fridge.

Toward the end of the evening, after almost everyone had left, I stumbled into the kitchen to find my family busily cleaning kitchen and unpacking dishes.  What a lovely gesture! But they lived at least ninety minutes away, and I started shooing them out, thanking them profusely, but begging them to go home and get some sleep.

That’s when someone said, “You know, Merilly has spent the last couple of hours washing your refrigerator and everything in it.”

What the hell? 

My darling sister had undertaken to repair the chaos generated by my friend, Keith, bless his heart.  Keith had taken the initiative to move the refrigerator… WITHOUT packing up the contents.  He had just strapped it to a dolly and humped it down the ramp and into the truck, up the stairs, bent it completely over to pull it up the hill and into the house.

It might have worked, actually…except we had a Costco-sized jar of pickles in the fridge, and it broke. The pickles, the juice, the glass: everywhere. On everything. Inside and out, refrigerator and freezer, absolutely everything. Nothing else broke, but everything else was coated and sticky and smelly. Until Merrily took it on herself to clean it all up, an act I could never repay.

My refrigerator was cleaner now than it had ever been.  Priceless.

Where Do Story Ideas Come From? ~ by Lexa Fisher

This Too Shall Pass, Award Winning photo by Mike Hornung

Authors are often asked "Where do you get your story ideas?" The answer is likely unique to each writer. Some authors get ideas from news stories to which they then add What if? to reshape the story with their own twist. Others like to people-watch in coffee shops or eavesdrop on conversations and come up with a story based on these observations.

For me, a feeling usually sparks a story. I love mysteries and family history, so the What if? question often begins with past generations.

Photo by Gustav Gullstrand on Unsplash

Let’s travel back in time with a young girl who loved to wander in the woods looking for long forgotten history. Why this fascinated her she never questioned, but she loved searching for signs of the past. The woods she wandered weren’t frightening or unwelcoming, instead, they promised stories of those who had gone before.  

Usually she only found the remains from not-so-long-ago campers and hunters. The evidence she longed to find was of early settlers. How did they live? What was life like for them? Who were they?

Photo by Steinar Engeland on Unsplash

One memorable day she found the discovery she dreamt of—an old house. Though she was but twelve, she closed her eyes and let her mind open to the presence of those who had lived there. The woods were silent, giving up no secrets.

Photo by DDP on Unsplash

After a few moments of reverent pause, she began sifting through fallen leaves to see what remained of the old house beyond its brick foundation and fallen boards. As her fingers scratched away dirt, a tiny teacup appeared and then a small chipped saucer.

A child lived here! Why were her playthings abandoned in this house? Excited by this find, she searched further and unearthed a cooking pot and a few scraps of rotting fabric. Had the cloth been the child's doll's dress?

Photo by Lester Hine on Unsplash

Night fell before she was able to collect more artifacts (a word she would learn years later). Then the changing season brought frost and earlier darkness that postponed her search of the grounds.

Years later this memory was triggered by the study of history and visiting museums in small towns across her state. Those distant memories ignited the desire to find her own ancestors. Genealogical research sparked enticing What if questions.

And I began to write...

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

A Platform for All Creatives ~ Amy Crouch and Chloe Mogg

The platform began with Chloe and Amy wanting to create a place

where both musicians and artists could share their talents in the same place during the COVID-19 Global pandemic. After seeing various Facebook groups based around music but none for other areas within the arts, the Facebook group 'The 7 Arts Still Exist' was born.

“While the world suffers, art is still being made by creatives behind closed doors. Here you can share your passion with the globe and make yourself known for your talent. The 7 arts still exist and are constantly in motion”

On March 26th 2020, Amy proposed the idea of an entirely online festival to Chloe, with the aim of showcasing live music and curating an online exhibition. On April 18th and 19th 2020, the festival went live, with a line up of 36 music acts, 18 hours of music, 26 artists and 118 artworks. They had support from their local BBC radio station, online magazines and the local news. This led the festival to great success; each live performance had an average of 650 views equaling to an overall of 23,400 views (circa) and the art exhibition had over 1000 views.

“After the success of the first festival, we knew straight away we wanted to do festival number two. We quickly started planning, and before we knew it our second festival took place 29th, 30th and 31st May - making it our biggest achievement yet.”

The 7 Arts Still Exist’s social media pages came to life with a website, Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram to go alongside the ever-growing Facebook group. Streams and artists were shared across socials to gain more coverage for the talented acts.

“We had viewers and performers from across the globe (US, Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada and more) and gained over 45,600 views approx. Split 31,000 via live streams and 14,600 via the art and exhibition, we are absolutely overwhelmed and so grateful with the response.”

Now taking a couple of weeks off to research for future events, The 7 Arts Still Exist can’t wait for whatever lies ahead in the future.

Amy Crouch is an abstract painter who was born in Worcester on

Amy Crouch, Co-Founder of 7ASE

7th February 1997 and grew up in a small town called Stourport-on-Severn. Her interests range from listening to music and attending music events to ghost hunting near and far, her favourite location being Drakelow Tunnels.

She studied Media Studies, Art & Design and English at Stourport High School and Sixth Form Centre before moving on to University in 2015; graduating in 2018 with a Bachelor's with Honours degree in Art and Design from the University of Worcester.

Amy now continues to study her artist practice back in her hometown, Stourport, where she has her own studio space in the heart of the town and will begin her Masters of Fine Art study at Birmingham City University in September 2020.

 

Chloe Mogg is a singer-songwriter, multi instrumentalist, music

Chloe Mogg, Co-Founder of 7ASE

journalist and now music promoter residing in Stourport-on-Severn. Chloe studied Level 3 BTEC & HND Music Performance at Kidderminster College from 2014-2018 before becoming a full time musician in 2018.

Known for her rainbow, ‘parrot’ hair, Chloe’s goal is to always bring colour to every project she participates in. Teaming up with life long best friend Amy Crouch to create The 7 Arts Still Exist, the two aim to give a platform for artists and musicians across the globe to showcase their creativity.

To learn more about this program, please click on the links below.

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Meet Our Members

Lexa Fisher

Lexa lives with her husband and spoiled little rescue cat in Seattle. Transplanted from Michigan decades ago she earned her BA at the University of Washington where she now works as an IT construction project manager. 

To read more about Lexa and her former blog posts, please visit her MEMBER PAGE

Heart Shapes in Nature ~ Jacquolyn McMurray

Have you ever studied nature's patterns? I find it interesting to observe how often Mother Nature repeats herself in spirals, hexagons, tessellations, and heart shapes. 

Red Anthuriums

One of the most common heart-shaped plants in Hawai'i is the anthurium. These simple flowers grow in a variety of colors and sizes.  

White Anthurium in Vase

Although my favorite anthuriums are red, this white with a blush of pink has its own distinct elegance. 

Pink Anthuriums in Entryway

And who can deny that pink anthuriums help make this a charming place to stop and rest?







One of my friends gave me a beautiful book on Hawaiian flowers. Published in 1943, the book is a collection of lithographs and verses like the ones below.

Lithograph by T. J. Mundorff

Like a hand-carved piece of

Red Chinese Lacquer

Each wax-like, wrinkled line

Molded in dreams centuries old. 

You've sacrificed your fragrance 

To other flowers,

And held an unforgettable beauty

All your own.

                                         Raymond A. Stewart, Jr.

But, anthuriums are not the only heart-shaped objects in nature.           
                                        

There are leaves,  

coral and lava rock,



     





and even fruit!

  
Next time you take a walk, look around and see if you can spot any heart-shaped objects.  I'd love to see what you find.

Life with Mazie ~ Part 5~by Joanne Jaytanie

Hello world, it’s me, Mazie.

I’m starting to wonder if there is anything beyond the giant evergreen trees at the edge of my yard. 

Mom thought that putting my blankets in front of the window would keep me from investigating every sound I hear outside, like when the gate opens. 

Silly woman.

Don’t get me wrong, I love it that Mom and Dad are always home, but I miss visiting with friends and meeting new people.

Dad has been working on trim in the office. 

My job is to supervise him. 

It’s cool that his toys make funny noises. 

I figured he brought his toys upstairs so that I could play with them, but he says I’m not allowed to touch them. 

What’s the deal? 

I share all my toys with him.

I try and keep myself busy. There’s so much I have to take care of – like barking at the fireplace when it makes weird sounds.

And keeping tabs on both of my people.

Dinner time is one of my favorite times of the day. 

When Mom makes salads, I make sure to get my greens. 

I like lettuce, but cucumbers are the best!

It was fun to chat with you again, but I have to go. 

Mom is doing something downstairs, and I have to supervise ‘cause that’s my job.

Click here to visit Joanne's page to read more from Mazie.

Saying Goodbye ~ by Kristine Raymond

Copyright © Depositphotos

In the words of The Bard, "Parting is such sweet sorrow", and whether spoken at the end of a visit or when a loved one leaves this Universe for the next, goodbyes are never easy.

I've said more than my share in my almost 53 years on this earth.  To cherished furbabies that I cradled in my arms while they crossed the Rainbow Bridge; to five babies I carried for such a short time before their souls departed this realm for a higher one; to my dad whom I had no way of knowing wouldn't be there the next time I phoned.

I've said goodbye to friends I'd never see again and dreams that would never come true.  On the flip side, I've celebrated the expression of positive goodbyes - releasing bad habits and negative thoughts and toxic relationships from my life.

But the hardest farewell is the one uttered when you don't want to let go; when you've enjoyed the time spent with those you love, but must move on.  That's what this post is for me.

More than a year ago, Grace and Joanne invited me to contribute to a blog they were starting for creatives, aptly named Originality by Design.  Over the course of that time, I've written about my love of jigsaw puzzles, the inspiration I draw (no pun intended) from color, and even about the love of my life - my furbaby, Bruno.  (Not to worry, the hubs knows he's second on my list 😉😂)

I've enjoyed sharing an aspect of my life with you, giving you a peek into what makes me...well, me.  When you get right down to it, I'm a simple girl who loves nature, tea, furry critters, and good friends, not necessarily in that order.  Not in any order, in fact.  I love equally and across the board, which makes today so difficult, as it's the day I say goodbye to Originality by Design.

Oh, there're no ominous clouds hovering over my head, at least, none that I'm aware of.  I'll still be writing and recording the podcast and dancing outside in the sunshine with my critters at my feet while hummingbirds zip through the air and the wisteria vine blooms.  But this path I've been on has reached its end and it's time to set out on a new one; one filled with adventure and destinations unknown.  

What's that?  Oh, not to worry, I'll still be dropping by to see what everyone's up to.  And you can always reach out to me on social media (Facebook, mainly) or through my website. 

It's been an absolute joy contributing to this awesome blog.  I'm honored to have been included.  So, before things start turning mushy around here, there's only one thing left to say.  Or, maybe I won't...

Copyright © Depositphotos

 

Hybridization of Artistic Genres and the Development of Multiple Creative Disciplines ~ by Lee Duane FitzSimmons

photo courtesy of ensia

One of the most clever ways to use a newly perceived idea is to apply its concept to another format or genre. One can also combine genres in an infinite number of ways. One can also take ideas from one genre and apply them to another or combine genres and apply ideas to the new hybrid. It is also possible to take foreign ideas that have been used in another type of art form and apply them to completely different art forms. This process allows for a creative work to have fresh material while still maintaining a ring of familiarity.

When combining genres, one should be careful and selective with the process required to perform this operation. Sometimes the various stylistic elements of a particular genre need to be carefully dissected in order to find appropriate aspects that may be either extracted and inserted into another genre or used as a foundation or template on which to place foreign elements from other genres.

It should also be remembered that each genre is a careful selection of artistic elements that have been used over and over again and have managed to find a certain kind of creative formula that rings true in the souls of many of those who enjoy experiencing creations of that genre. Creating a successful hybrid that also elicits this response is a feat that is not easily accomplished.

Thus, it should be realized that most attempts with any sort of hybridization are more than likely not going to be as well received as a new creation that can be considered as belonging to a specific genre. However, if this process of combinatorial endeavors is successful, then something wonderful and magical is created and the whole world benefits. It is like a bridge has been built that spans the width of a great chasm because the new hybridization can now be used as a blueprint for future creations to link the newly combined idioms together.

Once the bridge over a massive canyon has been built, it becomes easy to walk to the other side.

When it comes to the various fields of art, there are often many

photo courtesy of brainfacts.org

sources of inspiration that can potentially spark the fires of the creative process. However, sometimes the reverse is true. Therefore, it is important to have multiple inputs of imaginative fancy at one's fingertips. Different branches of art can very easily feed into one another if the imaginative process is constantly put to use in new and creative ways using multiple artistic and scientific disciplines.

Another important aspect to the benefits of having more than one field of artistic endeavor is the alleviation of boredom in all of its many incarnations. Due to the high level of repetition needed to develop one's technical prowess in any type of creative discipline, boredom quickly becomes a factor. One can lose interest at the early stages of an individual's artistic development in a particular field because only amateurish content can be produced due to lack of technique. Once an artist has gained enough technical proficiency to produce a high-quality product, an enormous amount of repetition has been performed in order to gain these skills.

By having more than one source of artistic passion, the alleviation

photo courtesy NorthShoreAcademyfor the Arts

of boredom in the fields where an individual is technically proficient becomes far easier to accomplish. Learning a new technique in a new field inspires technique and design ideas in the fields with which an artist is already fluent. In addition, the new discipline that the artist is learning is crafted in a new way that is inspired by this individual's proficiency within her/his areas of competency. One art feeds into the next and vice versa.

It should also be noted that the Western theory of "courting the

Photo courtesy of The Write Practice

muse" is very damaging to the creative process because reducing creative inspiration into a singular entity is rather limiting to the imaginative whim. The entire notion of "the muse" was not singular when it was first known to have been asserted publicly back in the ninth century B.C.E. by Hesiod. In fact, throughout the centuries, the idea of "muse" was quite often plural. To court one's muse would seem like a restriction of the imagination and not an enlargement of it. Instead, a more proper way of expressing creative inspiration would be "courting the muses." This type of assertion would be more in line with the expressions of the past centuries and would seem to be more likely to gather some type of creative energy from the collective consciousness.

There is also a bit of creative suppression when one uses the verb court. This verb implies that some effort is necessary to garner the affections of the muses. Instead of requesting the aid of just one fairy-muse, it would make more sense to have many ladies performing for the artist in need of inspiration. Therefore, instead of begging for the hand of an aloof muse-maiden, it would be more logical to let the entire harem of the nine muses perform for the artist seeking inspiration.

photo courtesy of pinterest

The fairy-muses of the aesthetic woodlands would then compete with each other for the affections of the individual in need of creative guidance.

Lee Duane FitzSimmons

Lee Duane FitzSimmons is an award-winning musical prodigy who creates customized background music. ATTENTION AUTHORS - FREE MUSIC FOR BOOK TRAILERS 

He not only became proficient on several instruments, but also learned music theory and ear training at age 12, so he could combine all of the creative sensibilities inherent in possessing all of these disciplines. While still in his early teens, he began writing and recording with a multi-track recorder while still in junior high school. Winning medal after medal in saxophone and vocal performance competitions, Lee especially excelled at ear training and music theory competitions. He placed first in state competitions for music theory and ear training his junior and senior years in high school, and received a $5,000 scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston where he tested out of over half a dozen semesters music courses.

Lee went on to earn a living professionally in music for many years. He played in several different house bands and toured on the road with many different groups as he traveled all over the country.  

For Lee, the only thing that matters now to humanity is peace. He feels that peace allows for the development of nations and individuals. Peace allows for the development of the arts and sciences. Peace allows for the continuous ecstasy of the soul.

You can connect with Lee at

LINKEDIN

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The Problem With Paper ~ by Andi Lawrencovna

Or electronic pages…whatever…this is really about the problem

photo: pexels

with words on paper, or screens, or wherever that is not verbal. And, to be clear, by verbal, I mean “in person” with one another.

Consider this: when you are having a conversation with someone, face to face or over the phone, you can hear the inflection to their words which gives you a perspective on the feelings being conveyed. If it’s in person, body language, hand movements, twitches all tell a story that may or may not go along with the words being spoken. The same goes for sign-language too, since gestures come with speed and sharpness or smoothness to denote emotion as well.

Not so much with paper.

On paper…our options are limited.

“LOL”

Not really meaning “laughing out loud,” so much as it means: “I’m joking!” when you type it at the end of a sentence.

“Sigh.”

…okay, that one’s pretty obvious, but, whatever. (lol) (See what I did there?)

But a sigh can showcase exasperation, or want, or romance…so, I take it back, it’s actually not that obvious a “descriptor” either.

Which is, “okay,” I guess, in texts, except it’s hard to interpret the emotion behind the words. What I type can be construed differently in what you read.

“You’re dead to me!”

HOLY COW!?!?!?! What did I do!?!?!

“You’re dead to me! I just spit coffee everywhere when I read that!”

Oh…that’s in reference to a joke I made…and you’re laughing at it, it’s not real.

But when we’re typing our comments to each other, and when

Photo: Deposit Photos

we’re typing fast, those explanations don’t get thrown in the way they always should. And worse, when they do get thrown in, sometimes they don’t actually explain anything anyways!

More and more people are relying on non-verbal means of communication as an expedient way of staying in touch. (Not including hand written letters here…those are a different thing entirely!)

And in using text messaging or emailing, we’re losing our ability to communicate, to learn to read and respond to and interpret emotions, or emote ourselves, face to face. Not only that, but we’re becoming embittered by the “hassle” of having to answer a phone call. Granted, part of that is because telemarketing is a nightmare and nowadays you never know if you’re answering a machine’s call or a person!

Sorry…sorry…I digress.

I always like to include challenges in these posts because, for some reason, I respond well to being challenged by people to do things!

So here’s your challenge today.

Call someone.

Don’t text message them. Don’t email. If they don’t answer, leave a message and tell them: “Just wanted to call and talk to you over the phone. I feel like I haven’t spoken with you in a while and wanted to catch up.”

Make it a mission to have a conversation, whether with a friend, a family member, or your random “number-neighbor”…apparently that’s some new trend online…? I don’t know.

The point is, a phone call can allow you to show more emotion,

Photo: Deposit Photos

share emotion, with someone else a lot better than a text message can. Allow yourself to become involved in someone else’s life with a warm hello, not a picture on Instagram.

I’m not trying to bring back a “dying medium” in speaking on phones. Just trying to bring back the emotion that emoticons have stripped from communication lately.

And if that’s not enough incentive, think of it like this: a text message is easy to respond “good” or “okay” too…but a phone call let’s you hear the inflection and KNOW if the person you’re talking to is really “okay” or “good” or if that’s them reaching out needing to say more and not knowing how to “text it” to you.

Right now we’re all uniquely privileged to be going through this weird quarantine period. And yeah, I said privileged. Think about it: have you ever used Zoom or MeetUps or whatever-online-web-video-chat-platforms are out there before now REGULARLY? (I haven’t…so…sorry for lumping everyone in with me from that standpoint! Lol – jokingly said, not laughing out loud!) We are being given the opportunity and the responsibility to reach out and talk to people face to face online, when we can’t speak in actual person. Don’t let this gift go! I’ve seen my relatives more these past two months with Zoom than I have in the past 6 months since they live out of town. Friends I’ve only ever met online I’ve Video conferenced with and seen their faces and their smiles. I’ve heard their voices and learned their expressions because of phone calls to “check in” and keep myself and them sane by having some sort of communication with them.

Sometimes, the inconvenience of picking up a phone is a greater privilege than reading a text message.

So, the trouble with paper, with screens, can be overcome. And I just thought…what a better time to reach out than right now when we can all use a bit more than a text check-in once in a while.

Happy Phone Calls, everyone!

L.O.L.

(Lots of love!)

Andi 

Photo: Deposit Photos

PS. I almost forgot about handwritten letters! The GOOD news of paper! A handwritten letter is such a gift too! It means you took the time to write words to another person, send it in the mail, and it’s not a bill from a collector that they have to fret about! LETTERS ARE AMAZING! 

Photo: Deposit photos

And, if you don’t believe me, I am more than willing to show you how! Originality By Design is going to help me out with this one and if you would like a handwritten letter from me, to see the power of the pen and not the keyboard, leave a comment stating you'd like that. I will gather your information from your response.  I try to send out a letter to someone once a week to bring a smile to their face! And I want to share that with you, too. 

Let me show you how good communication can be, and maybe I can inspire you to reach out and share this new form of old-fashioned love with another!