C'mon, get happy

Happiness is contagious, so here's to spreading it around like swirls of frosting. This bright award came to me from Stephanie Thornton at Hatshepsut: The Writing of a Novel. Stephanie is a history teacher who is funny, informative, and she sometimes teases with fascinating tidbits about a mysterious Egyptian ruler. A big thank you to Stephanie for the award and for saying something nice about the occasional bursts of little poems I write here.

In the spirit of passing this along, I am to tell you ten things that make me happy. These are NOT in order of importance, just random.

1) Writers who blog and enrich my life with their stories.

This morning I went to Lisa Schroeder's blog and watched a video of her doing drive-by booksignings. It made me smile. Then I read the links to interviews of her by other bloggers. And I smiled some more. Lisa said in one that she doesn't try to write messages in her YA books, which are often about learning to deal with loss. She said she would just like readers to gain a new appreciation for how precious life is, to realize that each day is a gift.

2) Friends and family.

Last night I went to a welcoming of the New Year, somewhat belatedly, at the home of one of my critique partners. There was amazing food and good company. We were all asked to bring a photo of a pet and a story to go with it. This turned into a blast. People, even the non-writers, came up with such fun and winsome tidbits to share. Laughter is a tonic like no other.

Pretty much nothing brightens my day more than hearing my daughter's voice on the other end of the phone and listening to her comments on life. She is a keen observer of the world.

3) Books. Maybe I should say right here that you can bury me with books, just in case there's any chance I can take them to the afterlife.

4) Art, whether it's beautiful or striking or haunting or thought-provoking. What I love is to see creativity through someone else's eyes.

5) Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I will watch it and laugh and cry until they bury me with all those books.

6) Listening to birds in the morning. Hearing the trees alive with cheerios, chirps, whistles and shout-outs.

7) Saying hello to a stranger on the street and having them smile in return.

8) A magnificent thunderstorm.

9) Walking barefoot in the sand.

10) Sunrise. Sunset.

Of course, I'm to pass this happiness along. This is always too hard, but I will name a few, and I know not everybody does awards, so there is no pressure to accept or pass this along. Only if you please.

Bish Denham at Random Thoughts

Valerie Geary at Something to Write About

Laura Canon at The Paris Hat

Melissa at Chasing the Dream

Shannon Messenger at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe

Sherrinda at A Writer Wannabe

Yat-Yee Chong

Wishing everyone a week of happiness and peace.