Thanks to my community

I’d just like to take a moment to thank everyone who contributed to this blog in the month of January. I always love reading your comments, and I hope you feel appreciated!  The sense of community is what I like most about blogging. So thank you for your participation and I hope to hear fromall of you again soon.

Links below the fold!

A Worthwhile Project

I came across a very worthy project that I wanted to share:

Life is beautiful!

The author, Ingmar Weber, is trying to learn the phrase “life is beautiful” in as many languages as possible.  He is sharing the results of his project with us on his blog.  He’s also collecting recordings in different languages and dialects.

I wonder if Missouri Bootheel counts as a valid dialect?

Wonderful

Please read A Father’s New Year’s Resolution. It’s one of the most touching posts I’ve come across in the blogosphere.  I hope that you’ll leave a comment as I did, and encourage this man to follow his beautiful resolution.

Sharing the Link Love

It’s always a bit like Christmas morning when I load up Technorati to find out who’s linking to my blog.  I love reading posts inspired by what’s written here. It’s a gift that never gets old.

I just want to thank all of you who read this blog, participate by commenting, and especially those who link back in posts of your own. You certainly make blogging even more fun.

Here’s a little sampler of some people who’ve linked in lately:

Talking Toys by Rob of 2Dolphins

The Internet Exploded by Vali

Your Greatest Teachers over at Brighter Days For You And Me (which you should be subscribed to if you aren’t already!)

Monday Meme, part of Stuff Jen Says

Here, Take This Meme by Nicki from They’re All Our Children!

My Turn by Tim of Outnumbered

Thanks again! That’s just a sampler, but I definitely wanted to return some link love.

Beautiful Monday

Three beautiful things from today’s minutes included:

1.  Stretching out on my recliner to watch a video with my kids. When I asked “who wants to sit with me,” both of them found a way to pile themselves onto me.  We were a cozy little pile of movie-watchers enjoying the cuddle.

2.  The nightly little ritual that my daughter and I have developed is that I get to tell her “what to dream about” right at the end of her day when I kiss her goodnight.  I’ve found that her favorite theme is to be some kind of an animal, usually pregnant and on the verge of giving birth.  Tonight, if she follows my suggestion, it’s a horse.

3.   My little son had more trouble getting to sleep tonight than usual. After a lot of crying on his part, it felt so good when he finally relaxed against my shoulder for that last hug of the night.

Here are some other people celebrating the beautiful things in their lives:  Desert Diva, Chai, and Amelia.

Happiness as a Spiritual Practice

I just subscribed to cheerfulmonk.com and I think you should, too.

Every post currently on that blog’s front page is uplifting and worthwhile. Post topics include happiness, living fully, following the path, and change. These topics probably aren’t causing readers to beat a path to his door, but they should be. As the author says:

I’m sure there are plenty of people in our society who would scoff and dismiss this talk of love as “touchy-feely” hogwash.

Well I don’t think my readers would dismiss it, so I hope that they will become readers of this blog as well. Check it out! You’ll be glad you did.

Random Act of Linkness: jehara

It’s been a while since I’ve handed out a Random Act of Linkness, but I’ve found a very deserving recipient to wrap up the week! Go and visit Soleil at jehara and you will a lot of great things! I was especially drawn to the fact that she recently posted a Thankful Thursday, listing many things that she’s thankful for. She also blogged about a recent random act of kindness that she initiated. That’s pretty close to the spirit of this blog. Way to go, Soleil! Have a great weekend.

Random Act of Linkness: Disasterology

While it may not sound like a very positive place, today’s Random Act of Linkness goes to Disasterology.  Mike has written a great post about promoting blogs and helping other people build up their sites. Here’s an excerpt:

This is a wonderful way to meet new bloggers and make friends with people that you might not have ever meet before.

Since that’s pretty much the same concept behind Random Act of Linkness, I had to feature him here! Thanks for your efforts to make the blogosphere a more positive place, Mike!

Random Act of Linkness: Living in Grace

Visit Living In Grace and you will find a beautifully designed blog whose author’s faith shines through in her writing. She’s facing some challenges right now, but is truly living up to her blog’s title by relying on grace to see her through.I was particularly moved by the post For Kati, written for her daughter who is about to enter high school. As the father of a soon-to-be-kindergartener, I can relate to the memories she describes. Listen to the love shared in this quote from the post:

As a parent, it’s a bittersweet time for us. We are so excited to see you grow and prepare to live your life, but we wonder how we will ever live without you around every day. Know that we are incredibly proud of you and the decisions you make. And, that we love you. Unconditionally.

Please visit this blog and share some comment love. It is well deserved!

What’s Random Act of Linkness?

What’s a “Random Act of Linkess?”

One of the regular features on this blog is the “Random Act of Linkness.”

I select a deserving blogger from the vast blogosphere and highlight their blog, usually with a link to the blog, a link to a specific post, and a selected quote from the post.

The purpose is simply to build a sense of community and encourage interaction.

It is my hope that the recipient of the “Linkess” will “pay it forward” and engage in their own Random Act of Linkness on their blog. Certainly, a link back to this blog would be appreciated as well.

In other words, it’s a meme.

Thanks!

Archives of all the Random Acts of Linkness are here.