I am old school about letter writing. A good friend and I were talking recently about writing letters, and how we used to write to each other all the time. I truly think it has become a lost art. Do you own any stamps? I do. Yes, I need them for the occasional strange bill that takes forever to pay online, and I need them for the cards and letters I send in the mail. Regardless of what popular opinion says, I believe there is something that is still precious about receiving a letter in the mail.

Yes, it takes more time than Facebook, or an email, or a Tweet. Yes, it takes a stamp (I cannot seem to even keep up with what a stamp costs, now that they sell the ‘Forever’ stamps). Yes, it require paper and an envelope. It also requires a bit of thought, a little love, and possibly a little creativity. I promise that you have what it takes. You can occasionally break the techno-mold (no not the green furry stuff), the I am in a rut and always do things electronically. Try it. Take out a piece of paper, or go to a fun stationary or paper store and purchase a card. Or, heck, cut up your empty cereal box. Decide who you would like to send a little love to this week, this month, this year, and write a note of what they mean to you. Be honest, be real, be direct. Be you. Put it in the envelope, address the envelope, and put a stamp on it. Then drop it in the mail.

Result: A happy friend, family member, lover. A happy recipient of a few extra minutes of your time. It will show. They may never tell you, but it will mean something to them. Then (oh my gosh yes) do it again. And again, and again. It will then be easy for you to resurrect the lost art of letter writing.

This individual took a month off from the Internet and corresponded with folks via paper mail. Now, I am not sure I could go that far (a month without the Internet would be like a month without water). What I can do is to try to continue to resurrect this lost art. Are you with me?

add a little "amore" to your letter

I am off to write a Thank You note.

I grew up in Indiana, where for most of my life we did not change our clocks during Daylight Savings Time. When I went off to school (boarding high school) and then college, I lived in states that observed Daylight Savings and you changed your clocks. It was always so confusing to me (and still is). Since I lived over half of my life in Indiana, NOT changing my clock is what makes sense to me. Each year when it is that time of year to change the clock, I have to ask my husband, okay we spring forward so are we gaining an hour or losing it? I know if I actually used my brain I could figure it out on my own, but it always feels unnatural to me. I think it is always harder for me to process because deep down I always ask myself, is this really necessary? It also shows what gets ingrained in us during our primitive years!

Which leads me to Leap Year. I have to say that as I thought about it, I could not remember what Leap Year/Leap Day was all about! Why do we have this random extra day every four years? So I did what most people probably do in these cases. I Googled it. Not at all what I was expecting. Years divisible by four, more revolutions around the sun, blah, blah, blah.

The bigger question to me is: What do people do that are born on February 29? Do they celebrate their birthday on February 28 or March 1? Or are they just much younger than the rest of us?! What an odd situation to be in. I have a friend who is a firefighter. She worked a 24 hour shift yesterday and is working another 8 hours today (for a total of 32 hours in a row) so that their rotating 24 hour work/shift schedules are not off for the year. The way their shifts work, it means they can know today if they will have to work on Christmas day in 2020. So Leap Year impacts their schedule of holidays. Their solution: each of the three shifts work 8 hours today. Fascinating! The work life disruptions of Leap Year.

Well I learned something today. I leave you with a short and inspiring blog from Seth Godin. You have to click the link to be inspired.

Happy Leap Day!

Thank you, Travis Thomas, who recently launched: 30 Days of Yes.  Be sure to check his site out, his new session of 30 Days of Yes starts on March 1, 2012. Travis recently blogged about Dan’s Coffee Run, and I could not resist sharing it further. Just to entice you a bit to click the link (and read about Dan), it involves coffee and a cancer ward. His story made me think about all I could be doing (and am not) and inspired me with curiosity and gratitude for what others may be doing in my community. The guy in line next to you at the grocery store could be a “Dan.” Your co-worker, the one that you have sat next to for years, might be a “Dan.” Are you, yourself, a “Dan?”

It made me think about the different blogs and books that are year long adventures in Random Acts of Kindness. Some blogs set out to do a random act each day for a year, or each day for a month, etc. Whatever way you slice it, it seems the best path to start is to make a conscious acknowledgement in thought (or write it down!) that you are going to do x, y, or z, within a specific time period. I imagine tracking it helps folks know if they are staying in line with their goals.

Today I watched this video and it inspired me. If you do not want to watch the entire video go to 11:10 and watch to the end of the video. Shawn Achor talks about how doing something for 2 minutes a day for 21 days rewires our brains to be more optimistic.

After reading more about Dan and listening to Shawn, are you inspired to do something? I am. Just need to decide what! Any ideas for me?