The SemiColon Translation – Not Just a Punctuation Mark

I’ve been seeing the semicolon symbol a lot on social media, and I’m identifying with it and sharing its other story here today. It’s also a symbol of courage that simply uses the punctuation mark to tell the world, our story isn’t over. It could have ended with a period, but the semicolon allows the story to continue.

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Grammarly shared a post about this stating:

“A semicolon is used when an author could have chosen to end their sentence, but chose not to. The author is you, and the sentence is your life.”

It was posted in 2015 by Grammarly, but has subsequently been recirculating and being used for suicide prevention advocating – the new significance of survival. – Project Semicolon

This punctuation mark has become a symbol for hope for anyone suffering depression, addiction, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and more of the same. You may have come across some of these posts on social media. Marketing has joined in with creating everything from jewelry, Tshirts, and more with the semicolon design. Many sufferers of depression have also tattooed this symbol somewhere on their person. The symbol was created to change the stigma and to help inspire others who walk the fine line of suicidal thoughts, and for showing solidarity against suicide, depression, addictions and other mental health struggles, inspiring strength for the suffering.

Grammarly shares a post about this symbol and talks about Amy Bleuel who began the nonprofit ‘project suicide’ back in 2013. She created the symbol to be used for more than just a punctuation mark after her own father committed suicide. Sadly, she took her own life in 2017.

Our world is getting infinitely harder for many of us to cope in. The statistics on suicide are growing enormously, and these don’t even apply to the same category with those who suffer actual mental illness. One does not have to suffer mental illness to take themselves to the dark side. I can attest to how devastating events in life can push our minds to some places we’d never thought we’d ever go to when provoked by emotional distress, loneliness or grieving.

The significance related to the punctuation mark is, a story of horrific pain is a mere pause in life, but life can continue. Problems, events, situations are temporary, but suicide is permanent. A reminder that life will go on and not be ended, symbolizing a continuation of life even when life throws us unbearable times.

Please, if you are someone contemplating self harm, or know someone who has reached this dark place, share this post and call your country’s national suicide prevention hotline:

In the U.S. call       1-800-273-8255   https://afsp.org/get-help 

Or simply dial #988

In Canada call        833-456-4566      https://talksuicide.ca/

In the U.K. there are various numbers listed on the NHS website  https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/feelings-symptoms-behaviours/behaviours/help-for-suicidal-thoughts/

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There is always hope. Most of the suicides can be prevented if the distressed person could just have someone to talk to. If you know someone who has experienced, or living a tragedy, life altering situation, or severely depressed, and they aren’t acting like their usual selves, closing themselves off to friends and loved ones, or just disappears from their social circles, please check up on them.

These numbers can be called when desperation reigns, be it thoughts about suicide, surviving a suicide attempt, or deep distorting thoughts for the grieving.

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https://www.grammarly.com/blog/why-a-semicolon-tattoo-is-the-most-beautiful-tattoo/

©DGKaye2022

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You Never Know the Silent Load that Somebody may be Carrying

Be kind

You Never Know the Silent Load Somebo

dy May be Carrying.

Goodbye #WATWB We are the World Blogfest

As many of you know, I have been a participant of the #WATWB for almost five years. This was a group of authors who posted something positive every Friday on the last Friday of each month to deflect from some of the negativity going on in the world. While I was on winter blog break, I didn’t know that March was the last month for this.

It was nice to be part of a set scheduled posting, but that doesn’t mean we can’t randomly share posts on goodness at our leisure or whenever we come across something worthy of sharing. So this past weekend I was feeling a bit nostalgic and was surfing through some different genres of music videos on Youtube and came across one of my favorites by Tim McGraw – ‘Humble and Kind’, and another classic relic by Teddy Pendergrass, sung when he was still lead singer of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes – ‘Wake Up Everybody’. Both these songs spoke to me with renewed emotion on reminders of the state of our world with big messages to remind about patience, tolerance and actions needed, reminding us about compassion. Like Teddy sings, “The world won’t get no better, if we just let it be …”

We are all, still the world. McGraw’s video is beautiful – both words and video. Pendergrass’ song is still very much of importance, despite the 70s being long gone, the message remains relevant, wake up everybody!

I hope you enjoy and are rejuvenated in compassion as you listen to the words. Not sure about you guys, but McGraw’s video has me reaching for tissues everytime. That song has been the ringtone on my phone now for quite a few years.

Official Soultrain video – by Philadelphia International records

Tim McGraw official video

©DGKaye2022

Greatest Holiday Commercial Ads to Touch Your Heart

This Christmas will be difficult for so many this year, and mine is no exception. I’m not going to write any fancy or bougie words here about how cozy and mushy this time of year is for me and for so many others, between loss, hurt and this damned Corona virus, but I do want to share these beautiful commercial ads I came across. These ads reach far beyond whatever they are selling; they all encompass the human spirit of love, kindness and empathy. If you need a reason to smile (even though a tissue needed will be a guarantee), please enjoy. Hallmark has some strong competition!

Wishing you all a happy holiday season and goodness and good health for the new year forward.

x

Kindness matters

@DGKaye2021

#WATWB – We are the World Blogfest #RandomActsofKindness – Inspiring Young Readers

Welcome to September edition of #WATWB – We are the World Blogfest, where writers join in on the last Friday of each month to share something good going on in the world. In this edition I’m sharing a wonderful initiative – publishing books for children to read for free to fulfil its mission, believing that every child by aged five should own at least 100 books.

 

Bookdash is a literacy organization that publishes books in eleven South African languages, an initiative that began in 2014, and has so far published over 146 books and over one million copies.

 

“Almost 60 percent of South African homes do not own a single book according to a 2016 South African Book Development Council report. According to the report, having as few as 20 books in the home has a significant impact on a child’s going on to higher levels of education. The impact of having 100 is even more pronounced.”

 

“The reason that so few South African homes have books is because they simply cannot afford them, Book Dash’s  director Dorette Louw told the Christian Science Monitor. Many families cannot purchase glossy children’s picture books in bookstores. Printing short-run books for a South African market is very costly.”

 

 

You can read the whole article at Goodnet. And enjoy this video that shares more about the dire need for these books to improve literacy for the children in South Africa.

 

 

 

Original source: https://www.goodnet.org/articles/book-dash-inspires-young-readers-to-soar

 

If you’d like to join in with an inspiring post for #WATWB, you can add your link to the group Facebook Page. Hosts for this month’s WATWB are: co-hosts are Eric Lahti (https://ericlahti.wordpress.com/) and Susan Scott (https://www.gardenofedenblog.com/

 

©DGKaye2021

 

 

#WATWB – Meet the Young Woman Helping Others Smile, One Bouquet at a Time! – Goodnet

Welcome to the the #WATWB – We are the World Blogfest, where a group of writers share something good going on in the world to deflect from negativity on the last Friday of each month.

 

Today I’m sharing an article I came across where one woman doctor brings the smiles one bouquet at a time.  Eleanor Love (appropriate name), worked part time as a florist while going through medical school and has a gifted knack for making bouqets. She has taken it upon herself to bring cheer to patients by collecting leftover flowers from weddings and making bouqets and giving them to patients to brighten their day.

 

 

Meet the Young Woman Helping Others Smile, One Bouquet at a Time!

 

 

“Eleanor Love knows that flowers have the power to bring joy to people.”

 

This young doctor’s mission is simple but genius: she turns something old into something new. Here’s how. She collects leftover fresh flowers from weddings and rearranges them into beautiful bouquets for re-gifting to hospital patients.

 

“But in this simple gesture of giving gorgeous flowers to lonely hospital patients, she is also gifting a healthy dose of instant happiness, bringing joy to her smiling recipients.”

 

“The floral passion of the appropriately named Ms. Love all started two years ago when she was a medical student at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in Richmond, reports the Washington Post. Inspired by hearing about the regifting of flowers happening on the West Coast, and equipped with the hacks to create a beautiful flower arrangement from her part time job at a floral shop before medical school, she decided to add some joy into patients’ lives. She continued the effort by setting up an organzation called The Simple Sunflower, which keeps up with the flower deliveries. . .

Visit the full article at Goodnet

 

Check out the video which explains the Simple Sunflower project

 

Source: Meet the Young Woman Helping Others Smile, One Bouquet at a Time! – Goodnet

 

If you’d like to join in posting something positive going on in the world, please add your link to our #WATWB Facebook group.

 

Hosts for this month are: Mary J. Giese (https://maryjmelange.wordpress.com/ and Belinda Witzenhausen (https://www.BelindaWitzenhausen.com/

 

©DGKaye2021

 

#WATWB – We are the World Blogfest – Giant rock snake started by a 7-year-old at a Toronto beach is melting hearts

Welcome to May edition of #WATWB – We are the World Blogfest, where writers share an inspiring article they’ve come across, to share some of the goodness in the world and to deflect from negativity.

 

Today I’m sharing a heart-warming article I first saw on our local TV news, then searched for the article. Because of the never-ending lockdowns in our city, it’s especially important to keep up the good spirits in children who are sorely missing out on social interaction. This little boy, Lucas Walker, has started a ‘snake chain’ of Kindness Rocks he hand-painted then started the chain of rocks at one of our Toronto beaches, and invited others to join in and add rocks. Now, people of all ages are visiting and enjoying reading the rocks and so many others are adding their own.

 

Kindness Rocks!

 

Giant Rock Snake is melting hearts in Toronto:

“Something as simple as a rock snake is getting plenty of smiles from the community after seven-year-old Lucas Walker started it last week.

Since the Beaches kid placed the first four painted rocks next to the Kew Beach boardwalk and set up a painted sign encouraging others to join in, it has grown to about 15m.

“He was just looking for an activity to do and wanted to get others involved,” Walker’s mom, Sema Sali, told blogTO. “We were heading to the beach one day, and were like, ‘Hey, why don’t we do something fun and creative’ and he was like, ‘Let’s paint some rocks!'”

Please visit the original post at BlogTo.com to see some of the wonderful rocks and how many more that have been added since Lucas began with four rocks.

 

Source: This now giant rock snake started by a 7-year-old at a Toronto beach is melting hearts

 

If you’d like to join in with a post about something good going on in the world, please join us with your post by sharing it in our WATWB Facebook group

 

©DGKaye2021

 

Sunday Movie Review – The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield

My Sunday Movie Review is for The Celestine Prophecy. This was a book recommended to me by a friend more than ten years ago, and I still never got to it. James Redfield wrote both, the book and the screenplay for this New Age fictional story about synchronocities that lead us to where we need to be and to the people we meet throughout life for reasons.

 

“Look not from the mind, but from the soul. For the life that is coming, is already before us, waiting to open the world. Just look more closely.” ~ from The First Insight

 

Storyline:

Disillusioned and temporarily rudderless, John Woodson is about to experience a dramatic and profound metamorphosis. Through a mysterious set of coincidences, he finds himself on an adventure to Peru in search of ancient scrolls, known as the Celestine Prophecy. The prophecy and its nine key insights, predict a new awakening that redefines human life and provides a glimpse into a completely spiritual culture on earth. Resistant at first, skeptical and unsure, John finds that each step he takes, each person he encounters leads him to a new awakening. It is only in this letting go that he finds his destiny and comes to understand the meaning that had escaped him when his adventure began.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398842/

 

Some poignant quotes from reviewers:

“This film reminds me how to take care of my energy and be aware of others energies and the importance of being around places and people that are good for our souls. ”

“If for no other reason watching this movie can show how people can improve their lives by just how they treat each other.”

 

 

Blurb for the book:

The #1 bestselling phenomenon with millions of copies sold around the world — now with a guide to creating your own Celestine Prophecy experience.

You have never read a book like this before–a book that comes along once in a lifetime to change lives forever.

In the rain forests of Peru, an ancient manuscript has been discovered. Within its pages are 9 key insights into life itself — insights each human being is predicted to grasp sequentially; one insight, then another, as we move toward a completely spiritual culture on Earth.

Drawing on ancient wisdom, it tells you how to make connections among the events happening in your life right now and lets you see what is going to happen to you in the years to come. The story it tells is a gripping one of adventure and discovery, but it is also a guidebook that has the power to crystallize your perceptions of why you are where you are in life and to direct your steps with a new energy and optimism as you head into tomorrow.

Praise for The Celestine Prophecy
“A gripping adventure story filled with intrigue, suspense, and spiritual revelations.” – Commonwealth Journal

“A spiritual classic…a book to read and reread, to cherish, and to give to friends.” – Joan Borysenko, PhD, author of Fire in the Soul

“In his inimitable style of great storytelling, Redfield opens us up to a world of insight, inspiration, synchronicity, and power.” – Deepak Chopra

 

 

My 5 Star Review:

This book was originally written in 1993 and revised in 2006. John goes off to Peru and learns the way of the world from an ancient manuscript rumored to reveal the future of mankind. The energies we exchange with each other are the catalysts of what transforms human society.

Chaos in the world will change us and have us look at everything differently – a prediction for our modern times. John, newly fired from his teaching job, learns about the secret scrolls of Peru, and in a quest for knowledge, he goes there in search of a priest who knows about the scrolls, which have been stolen. There are many messages interwoven in this spiritual, fictional story. An insightful tale told through story encompassing, coincidence, how people we meet, even for an instant, seem to play an integral part of foreshadowing us into another event of life. Other insights on how opening ourselves enables us to receive, our purpose for being, staying alert to signs, how giving connects us in ways we never realized, and that things are not always as they seem.

This movie is inspirational and I think if everyone watched it, the world would be a better place.

 

©DGKaye2021

bitmo live laugh love

 

 

Sunday Book Review – Featuring Sally Cronin’s #NewRelease – Life is Like a Bowl of Cherries

Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. Today is somewhat of a double-header for my friend and author/blogger Sally Cronin. I recently invited Sally over for a Q & A where we got some good insights from her on marketing and blogging and more, as I featured her newest release, which I’m featuring here today again with my review – Life is Like a Bowl of Cherries – Some Bitter, Some Sweet.

 

For those of you who enjoy Sally’s heartfelt stories that pack a punch in the heart zone, and for those of you who’ve yet to enjoy one of Sally’s books – Sally never disappoints! Sally takes us into stories sure to tug at our hearts in her latest book of heartfelt stories and accompanying poetry.

 

 

Blurb:

Life is Like a Bowl of Cherries: Sometimes Bitter, Sometimes Sweet is a collection of short stories with scattered poetry, reflecting the complexities of life, love and loss.

The stories in the collection dip into the lives of men and women who are faced with an ‘event’ that is challenging and in some cases life changing.

Even something as straightforward as grocery shopping online can be frustrating, and a DNA test produces surprise results, the past reaches out to embrace the present, and a gardening assistant is an unlikely grief counsellor. Romance is not always for the faint-hearted and you are never too old for love. Random acts of kindness have far reaching consequences and some people discover they are on a lucky streak. There are those watching over us who wish us well, and those in our lives who wish us harm.

 

My 5 Star Review:

I was eagerly looking forward to Sally Cronin’s latest book of short stories that take us in and to other places and time. And although each story is individual to itself, as with all of Cronin’s stories, they share a common theme – kindness, humility and the human condition.

Cronin writes stories about everyday humans, situations, love, loss, courage and hope. Several of the stories end or begin with an accompanying poem which reflects on the tone of the story. The author has an innate gift for syllabic poetry – especially the Cinquain.

I love the title of this book because, as it implies, such as in life we enjoy the sweet moments, but must also endure the bitter sometimes in life. The book reads like an anthology, encompassing stories that warm our hearts, as well as a few surprise stories with a futuristic edge – that may not really be so far in the future.

Just a sampling of a few of my favorites in this book are:

The Weekly Shopping – The first of the stories to grab our attention where Barbara encounters what many of us feel nowadays – Big Brother watching our every move. But how far is far enough?

Winning Streak – “They say you can’t buy happiness, but you will be surprised by the power of a fiver in the hands of the right people.” This poem alludes to two of Cronin’s stories about luck, below.

The Scratch Card – following circumstances after Elsie Thompson wins $20 on a scratch card, and we discover how much those meager winnings hugely touch a few people’s lives as ‘pay it forward’ progresses.

The Charity Shop – have you ever had the good fortune to find a sweet cheap deal in a charity shop? Find out what Mary Jane picked up for a ‘fiver’ and how it changed many other lives.

The Date – Elsie Windsor buys a raffle ticket, hoping to win the tin of biscuits and wins a lot more than she could even imagine. At age 95, Elsie is not too old to feel young again.

Friday Night – An empowering little tale about Lizzie who learns her value and takes back her power.

Gaffer Tape – More Karma, and a bit of sweet deserved revenge when Jennifer has taken back her power and teaches her husband a well-needed lesson.

The Florist – It’s never too late for dreams to come true, even when you think love has passed you by.

Sally Cronin is known for her books that go straight to the heart, so if you enjoy feel good stories for a lift, you will surely enjoy this latest book of heartfelt stories.

 

Sally Cronin's Books

Visit Sally’s books on Amazon

 

©DGKaye2020

bitmo live laugh love