Joy Producing CREATIVITY! :D

Hi family! :D

I saw something on FB recently that just tickled me pink inside and I thought you might enjoy seeing it, too!

...Projects which would most certainly bring joy to both the giver and the receiver! ;)

Here is an example of what one person did...

This photo came from the FB page "Humans of New York," with the following script...

“I’ve always liked to do nice things for strangers. I worked in the mail room at my college dorm, and whenever I emailed a package notification, I’d always add a little something extra. Like an awesome shark pic. Or a link to Japanese jazz. Lately I’ve been doing this thing where I buy really weird antique post cards, write poems on them, and mail them to random people I find in the white pages. The first time I sent one, I added a full-page disclaimer because I was worried some old person would think it was from ISIS and call the cops. I basically wrote: ‘Don’t worry. It’s art. Everything’s cool. You won’t be hearing from me again.’”

I LOVE MAIL!!! :) So you probably already know, I LOVE this idea! :D I would be one happy recipient if one of these came to my mail box! ;) Thus, I'm assuming I would find joy in sending one out as well. I think I'll do that for some stranger some time this week. :)

Another idea I'm fond of came from a friend of mine. Each time she and her family travel, they make post cards with some cool drawing or design or word art on the front of it, addressed to their own address, with a message reading, "Lost mail. Please help me find my way back home!" LOL

                               http://www.lostpostcardproject.blogspot.com/2015/10/postcard-feature-love.html

Then they go to a public library and hide their post cards in books for people to find, write in, and send back to them! :) They have been doing it for a about ten years now, and get about half of them back.

Doesn't that sound like fun? :D This friend of mine is QUITE creative. I'd really like to "inherit" some of those jeans. I suppose I may have to settle for copying others' creativity until I develop some of my own! ;) I'll leave a link to my dear friend's blog. You should check it out! It looks as though they are beginning to feature the return postcards more regularly!

I suggest you start here...
http://www.lostpostcardproject.blogspot.com/2015/09/so-many-of-things-we-love.html

As my daughter would say, "any-who,"  ...I LOVE THIS IDEA, TOO! :)

Again, I suppose it is because I love mail. But in this age of emailing, my letter writing has greatly diminished. I don't like it. So I'm going to do this sometime this coming week, as well. :) Not from out of town, just from my own library, just for the fun of "experiencing" this, even if for a brief moment! :)

I'm ALSO going to take part in writing a "traveling letter!" Yeah! I'm so excited! :D (Can you tell I need a break from the mundane?) ;) I really DON'T have all the time in the world! This swap is through a site I just stumbled upon a day or so ago called Swap-bot (swap-bot.com). There are a ton of swap activities to choose from there, if you are interested. Or you can simply make up your own! :)

OK... Enough telling you about what others do or of what I plan to do. Here is one more idea, which I actually DID. It was truly one of the most fun creative activities which I have had the pleasure of participating in. It was a Circle Journal. And IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!

I'm pretty sure the title is self explanatory, but for those of you who might not know what it is... Each participant creates a journal out of whatever they want, with whatever theme they desire. All are coordinated into a circle, so everyone sends their journal to the next person on their list, who then gets to "add to" the journal, writing about the chosen theme for that journal; until the journal has traveled through the circle and been added to by each, and then lands back in the hands of the creator of the journal.

I made several pages for each journal I added to. Here are just a couple pictures of pages I made for other people's journals...

Theme: My life is Art

Theme: Emergence

I chose the theme Faith in Every Footstep for the journal I sent out.

I blogged the pages I made, so you are welcome to check them out if you desire. Just search "circle journal" on my blog to see them if you are interested...

Anyhow, seeing these postcards renewed my desire to want to be more creative. It seems I have been too busy for too long with necessities of life, and not made enough time to get creative or write letters to friends (As my daughter would say... "gasp! :o" LOL). Besides, I have been kind of blue lately. And maybe it's because I have been too busy, and haven't been reaching out and doing nice things for others! I don't know about you, but when ever I try to bring a smile to another person, I always end up finding a bigger smile on my own; it always seems to happen that way! :) I suppose it can work both ways... Don't make others smile and you lose your own! :o Yikes!

No more mundane for me! ...I'm going to light this world on fire with Joy Producing Creativity! ;D  ...Or at least, find some balance in my life between work and a little creative play! ;) And it's going to START with making an actual, physical, card, and MAILING it to my daughter... rather than just sending emails all the time.  :)

If any of you would like to bring a smile to a missionary serving in Japan, you can send her one, too! :D

Sister Mindy Moore
Chiba-ken, Kisarazu-shi 
Yamato 2-8-1. ZC:292-0064 

Happy Joy Producing Creativity to you all!

Corine :D