Okay Beautiful Blossoms … let’s not complicate this one. A smile is POWERFUL! It is an instant pick-me-up! Even if you fake it, a smile will do good things to your body!!!
It’s chemical, people! We have Happy Hormones!
You smile; your facial muscles move; your brain gets triggered; feel good chemicals get released; and voila … instant mood lifter!!!!
So what are you waiting for?
Are you smiling right now? Why not? … You could be … !!!
You’ll note the upturned corners of my mouth … my teeth beaming … my cheeks rounded and up … it’s as though my lips are stretching to meet my ears.
You smile, you feel better! Easy peasy!
What’s not to love?
A heartfelt moment to be seriously serious.
I’m actually totally serious above, even if a bit silly. But as a blossom challenged by perimenopausal hormone shifts, fluctuating hormone turbulence, and a state of ever depleting estrogen and progesterone levels, I get these horrible, terrible, life-crashing, grief-striking bouts of sobbing tears accompanied by incomprehensible bereft feelings that clench my stomach and make eyes leak like rivers.
These moments totally suck!!!
So … for my beautiful blossom who suffer depression, anxiety (I have that, too, and I know how bad anxiety bites the biggy, too.), etc, … if you’ve got a regular case of the “sads” or “scaredy cats,” I just want you to know … I’ve tried with every PINK molecule and energy light in my body to smile in these sobbing moments, and I’m usually NOT successful.
In these acute moments, sometimes we have to give ourselves the necessary time to process the moment.
THEN, as soon as we can, we can smile to help continue our upward journey take us upward faster and happier!
And might I also just add … if you are a blossom with clinical depression and/or anxiety, please keep seeing your therapist, doing your therapy in all its many forms, and please keep healing! Smile when you can, cuz it really does help! And know we are here for you in the biggest loving, hugging way possible!!! Holding you on your journey and helping you get to the other side of your challenge!
Know that you are always welcome here! Know that I am hugging you so big! And with so much love!
I really hope my smiles, hugs, and loves, in all their forms can bring joy into your day and life, and help to brighten your spirits!
Quick Highlights Benefits of Smiling
Studies have shown the simple act of smiling is the fastest way to perk you up and brighten your day. Even if you “make yourself” smile … it still releases your brainz happy juices!
Stress reducer
Immune system booster (makes you healthier)
Pain reducer
Lowers your BP
In short … a true kindness to you!!!!
And … it’s a kindness that can be shared for free!!!!
What can you do right now to help you smile?
As you likely know, I’ve got lots of Smile Tools in my tool kit!
I spend mindful moments just breathing and taking in the nature around me!
I yoga, yoga, yoga, yoga, yoga, and more yoga!
I slurp (yep, I actually slurp as necessary!) on fruit smoothies!
I watch the creatures being all creature-y in Bog-landia behind my Starry Cottage lil home!
I hug my honeybun!
I watch funny/happy/uplifting movies/videos!
I tell jokes!
I write funny stuff!
I read funny stuff!
Uh, I’ll just up and start smiling … just to be smiling!
I silly dance around in my Starry Cottage!
… just to name a few …
I encourage you to make tool kit of smile-inducers! And you can start right now by listing off 3 things you can do to smile! (Like go back up and see me smiling at you! Or check out my awesomely fun “doodle Gogh!”)
Be the smile in your day! Be the smile in someone else’s day, too!
Well, Beautiful Blossoms! I have loved spending this happy, loving time with you and creating these very special “doodle Gogh” arts for you! I hope I have brought fun, silliness, smiles, and love and big hugs into your day today!
It’s that time of year again! It’s time to help kids smile big and bright and feel love and happiness in their hearts!!! Christmas can be a difficult time for children in need. There are so many families who for so many reasons cannot afford to gifty-gift their kids at Christmastime.
Having connections to the medical community, for instance,I know that parents fighting cancer oftentimes face tremendous medical expenses that make Christmas even more difficult. Then there are the kids of low income families. And even right before I started writing this blog post, I was reminded of the children who themselves are hospitalized at Christmas fighting their own battles. This list goes on. And so for me, I thought … let’s help make some kids smile big this holiday! My special gift to give always is love and big hugs … and this year, I have a very special way of sharing those big loves and big hugs. She happens to come in the form of an adorable, lovable, happy monster named Lub who is having a very happy day! Thus 100 Books – 100 Happy, Smiling Kids! Lub’s Very Happy Day! Holiday Donation Book Drive was born.
Pauli and I were never able to have kids, so our nurturing hearts found other ways to share and spread love! And Lub’s Very Happy Day! story and activity book is one of those ways! This year we have already donated one classroom set of Lub’s Very Happy Day! books to a 4th grade classroom in Bay City, MI. And I got this big idea … Let’s do a Lub’s Very Happy Day! holiday donation book drive to get 100 copies of Lub’s Very Happy Day! donated to kids in need, so we can make at least a 100 kids smile … cuz Lub will do that to you … she’s big on making smiles, sharing love and happiness, and giving hugs! … And then, if 100 books get donated, we can do a random hat drawing for one lucky donator to win a classroom set for another classroom of their choice! Also, as I mentioned a moment ago, a nursing friend of my reminded me that there are children who will be confined to their hospital rooms for the holidays, and so I’m also open to the gift set of books being donated to children in hospitals.
With all of this in mind … let’s be the loving, bright stars we are and share and donate! Let’s make a happy, smiling big, loving difference to kids in need! Here’s how!
Help me put smiles on at least 100 kids’ faces this holiday season by buying a copy of Lub’s Very Happy Day! and donating it to the charity that moves your heart (Toys for Tots, your church toy drive, etc).
In return, I will donate a classroom set of Lub’s Very Happy Day! books (up to 30 copies) to the winning participant’s classroom of choice (to be determined by random hat drawing).
This holiday donation book drive ENDS Sunday, December 15, 2019, midnight, EST.
The recipient classroom of the classroom set of Lub’s Very Happy Day! books (up to 30 copies) must be in the continental United States.
You send me proof of your purchase to marykate at loveandbighugs.com
I will put your name in a hat for a random drawing for every copy of Lub’s Very Happy Day! you donate.
You donate the copy to the charity that moves your heart (Toys for Tots, your church toy drive, etc).
When we reach 100 copies donated, I will draw a random name from the hat and donate an inscribed, classroom set (up to 30 copies) of Lub’s Very Happy Day! books in the winner’s name! (Shipping to classroom’s school included.)
It’s that easy!!!
Lub makes kids of all ages smile big and instantly feel happier. She can’t help it … she’s drawn that way, lol!
What the kids are saying about Lub and her very happy day story and activity book!
“My grandson thinks Lub is cool! We love Lub’s Very Happy Day!” Kris B. Elkhart, IN
“I read Lub’s Very Happy Day! to Ethan (6) and Ally (5), and they said it’s full of joy, and it made them feel happy!” Karen H. Hamburg, MI
Maybe you are wondering what Lub is all about … well, she’s very much me in my kid-like, loving, cute monster self … so when I wrote her story I thought about things I love, and I wanted to fill her story with happy images of some of my favorite things. So that’s exactly what I did!
I love cute monsters – so of course Lub would have to be adorable.
I love PINK – so, lol, of course – Lub’s the PINKest monster, EVER!
I love LOVE. Love in all it’s kindness. Giving and sharing. Compassion. Big Heartedness. Playfulness. Silliness. All of it!
I love nature and being outdoors. The sunshine. The woodland creatures. Adorable buggy boos. The flowers and the trees. And oh how I love bright, sunny, warm blue skies with fluffy cotton ball clouds floating by … and all the imaginary shapes I can see!
I love reading, creating, playing, eating healthy snacks.
I love spending happy time with friends and loved ones.
Lub is the happiest, PINKest, most love-filled monster, Ever! Her big, PINK heart is always with her, and it beams brightly in everything she does!
Lub loves you!
Join Lub as she shares with you her love and very happy, monster-ifically delightful day! Feel playful and bright, smile big, and be happy! Have fun and be cheerful as Lub lovingly models healthy behaviors, like:
Being happy
Smiling big
Having fun
Being kind
Spending fun time with oneself
Having independence/self-reliance
Being imaginative
Having positive friendships
Napping
Eating well
Having compassion
Enjoying silliness
Valuing companionship
Being grateful
Watch your child’s face brighten with big smiles at every adorable page turn. Kiss them goodnight with happiness floating in their heads and big smiles filling their hearts!
Additional Features of Lub’s Very Happy Day:
Adorable, bright, full color, happy art and images spark big smiles
Thank you for being here with me! Thank you for donating your love and big hugs to this 100 Books – 100 Happy, Smiling Kids! Lub’s Very Happy Day! Holiday Donation Book Drive and helping me help at least 100 kids to smile big! I hope your holiday season is filled with love and kindness, big hugs and big love, laughter and squee, and healthiness! And the biggest smiles, ever!!!
I have a Thanksgiving story of Gratitude-Giving to share with you. It’s all about how a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for, and how it’s made my life a happier and better place to be!
Treasured friendship lost
Has it ever happened to you? You’ve had a friendship with someone who simply brightened your heart with so much happiness and big smiles, who made a positive difference in your life, but then time, distance, circumstance … life … happens and your friendship is lost, but the love is still in your heart?
It has happened to me with great sadness. I will miss my friend forever, but I am grateful for every wonderful, life changing gift I got from our friendship.
I know I’m not alone in this as I’ve talked to other gorgeous souls who have experienced friendship loss as well. We talk about how great it was when we had our friend in our lives, and invariably the conversation always drifts to wondering … What went wrong? What happened? Why did our friend let go? Sometimes we get answers. Sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we can reconnect. Sometimes we can’t.
My thoughts for my friend-lost and my shared wisdom to the gorgeous souls I talk to … I take from the book/movie Eat, Pray, Love … send them your light and love and wish them well wherever they are in the world and in whatever they are doing. I feel this truly and deeply in the depths of my soul. Yes! For as much as I miss my friend, there is a reason I miss her so much – she was a delight in my life – and I wish her goodness, healthiness, and love in all that she does, even if it means without me.
For as much sadness as I’ve felt from the loss of this friendship, I have so much to be grateful for, and especially as it is Thanksgiving and a time for Gratitude-Giving, I want to share with you the amazing life changing gifts I received that made this friendship so worth the pain of losing it.
Life changing gifts
To start, I am grateful for every single day I got to spend with my friend … for all our laughter, shared love, shared wisdom, shared goals, shared philosophies, supporting one another … the absolute delight of feeling fully connected to another person in this giant lonely world and getting to spend time with her. What a gift!
And she gave me another gift; one I never saw coming. It changed my life, forever. She gave me the gift of encouragement. It helped me grow a new confidence in myself I’d never had. She saw a creative talent in me that I didn’t feel was worthy of sharing. She disagreed. She told me my art looked like me. It had all my happiness in it. That my art was a visual embodiment of my voice.
Then, she gave me the gift of knowing … she
taught me how to use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
I started
out slowly. Figuring out the digi-tech
part of art. Playing around. Birthing a new craft. And as my confidence grew, I tried new and
bigger things.
Living my gifts
And this is
how Lub’s Very Happy Day story came
about!
A few years
ago, while we were still friends, I decided to create a children’s story and
share it with her as a prezzie. She –
like me – loves children’s picture books to fall asleep to. … You know
how life can be stressful? Well, at
nighttime, you want to fall asleep, not being stressed. You need to let go and relax. You want to go to bed with good juju running
around in your head so you can have happy dreams, not stressy ones. A novel, although a very happy escape … if
you get sucked in (we’re talking hours of awesome reading), you lose sleep and
rest. So to help us calm down, me
and my friend love to read happy kid’s books.
They’re quick. Cute. Fun. Often
silly and squee. And help you calm down
and sleep sweet.
So I thought, hey, why don’t I write a cute, happy kid’s book for us to enjoy before sleepy-time? I wanted it to be filled with happy images of favorite things. So that’s exactly what I did.
I love cute monsters – so of course Lub would have to be adorable.
I love PINK – so, lol, of course – Lub’s the PINKest monster, EVER!
I love LOVE. Love in all it’s kindness. Giving and sharing. Compassion. Big Heartedness. Playfulness. Silliness. All of it!
I love nature and being outdoors. The sunshine. The woodland creatures. Adorable buggy boos. The flowers and the trees. And oh how I love bright, sunny, warm blue skies with fluffy cotton ball clouds floating by … and all the imaginary shapes I can see!
I love reading, creating, playing, eating healthy snacks.
I love spending happy time with friends and loved ones.
So of course, Lub’s Very Happy Day! is inspired and guided by all this love and happy goodness. It’s filled with delightful brightness and big huggy smiles! (It’s self-care in picture form!)
I can’t look at Lub & her picture pages without smiling so big! For me, she has that silly something that just makes me feel better instantly. :0)
Lub was born from all my squeelightful monstery pink-hearted happiness and giddy clapping to brighten our days and sweeten our nights! Her very presence on paper is a silly monsterification of all the giddy love in my heart! And she’s been keeping me company at bedtime ever since.
Not too long ago, a friend – who is also a retired elementary school teacher – was visiting me, and we were in my studio. She saw Lub’s book, and she smiled huge (Lub will do that to you!). My teacher friend asked me about Lub; what her story was; and how it came about. She started flipping through the pages, and page after page, her smile grew bigger. She told me I should publish the story. That she thought it was really good!
I was all like, “Really? … Like share with other people kind of good?” I had written it for fun and bedtime positive imagery, never thinking to put Lub into the world.
But my
friend insisted.
I was moderately convinced. My artwork in my personal copy was from my first days in the digi-painting world. My doodlebug fingers hadn’t grown their confidence bones quite yet, back then. So I asked around to other school teachers I know. Every single time I got the same thing. Share Lub! She’s adorable and so happy and so fun!!!
Fueled by all
the excitement of how easily other peeps were falling in love with Lub, I
decided to update the artwork. For as
much as I loved her and everybody else seemed to be loving her, too, I knew my
art could be cuter with my improved and more experienced doodlebug digi-skills.
And
voila! Here we are today. Lub’s
Very Happy Day is a story come to life to share happiness and love with
like-minded and pink-hearted monsters who are giddy clapping for more POSitude
and happiness to brighten their days and sweeten their dreams.
My life: a happier and better place to be!
This is how a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! And how it’s made my life a happier and better place to be! I have learned how to be a digi-art doodlebug! I’ve grown my skill with experience. And I’ve gained confidence in my doodlebug digi-art skills and having a visual voice to share my love and happiness with you! I feel this is a gift that pays forward. Now that I’m digi-art doodlebug, I have another medium to share all my Love and Big Hugs with you, and this makes me so very happy!!! Especially as, let’s face it … most of us are visual people. A picture is worth a thousand words. And my art is me all over the page sharing all the PINKness in my heart to help you feel better, more loved, happier, and healthier. And this is gratitude in my heart!!!
I hope you give yourself the gift of Love and Big Hugs all day long today on this Thanksgiving day! And every day. May your day be filled with love, happiness, and healthiness, and may you be surrounded by peeps who get you, love you, and cherish you for all the goodness in your heart!
Lub is the happiest, PINKest, most love-filled monster, Ever! Her big, PINK heart is always with her, and it beams brightly in everything she does!
Lub loves you!
Join Lub as she shares with you her love and very happy, monster-ifically delightful day! Feel playful and bright, smile big, and be happy! Have fun and be cheerful as Lub lovingly models healthy behaviors, like:
Being happy
Smiling big
Having fun
Being kind
Spending fun time with oneself
Having independence/self-reliance
Being imaginative
Having positive friendships
Napping
Eating well
Having compassion
Enjoying silliness
Valuing companionship
Being grateful
Watch your child’s face brighten with big smiles at every adorable page turn. Kiss them goodnight with happiness floating in their heads and big smiles filling their hearts!
Additional Features of Lub’s Very Happy Day:
Adorable, bright, full color, happy art and images spark big smiles
6 Delightfully fun coloring activity pages included
Today, you get to ask yourself a powerful question:Do I want to be happy? … Don’t let this scare you off. I know I was super direct. But it’s a real and worthy question. That can sometimes be a bit scary. Please don’t be scared. I’m right here with you!!! We can do this together!!! Cuz I love you Big, and I’m holding you tight!!! We can grow your happiness with smiles!
I don’t need to tell you – I’m betting you already know: there’s a lot of unhappiness in the world. And it’s impacting so many of us.Even the brightest of souls can get hit. If you are a soul that has been feeling unhappy a lot, or even a little, lately, and you want to feel more happiness in your life again … the first step is acknowledging you are ready to feel happiness again.
So … are you ready to feel happiness again?
If so … let’s talk Smiles!
Now, I’m not
gonna sit here and try to sell you on a smile, telling you it will fix
everything. I, mean, come on, let’s be
real. Life can deal some serious
blows. Bigger things than a smile alone
can heal and fix.
But, a smile is POWERFUL!
Grow your happiness with smiles. It’s been proven and shown in study after study after study to make big POSITIVES happen in your life.The simple act of smiling can lift your mood, alter your brain chemistry, lower your stress, boost your immune system. Umm … yes, please … to all of this!
Here are just a few of the articles written about it … in case you want to check it out for yourself.
But really … do we need to skootch off to read about it? Why don’t we just try it? Like right now? You know. Smile, and see how it makes you feel.
Here, I even have a POSitude to share with you to guide you through it. LOL. Like, you’ve never smiled before. (Althooooough … maybe???? … Just kidding.)
Actually, in this POSitude, I take it up a notch … I like doing that. I try to get as much bang as possible for my happiness investment bucks.So I’ve added a little moment of self-reaffirmation to go along with the smile. Give it a try … it’s feel-good in like 5 seconds … it’s deliciously delightful!
POSitude card from Mary Kate’s deck of POSitude cards available at Etsy
So. Here we go. Ready? SMILE!
How’d it go? How are you feeling? … Little bit better? Maybe even a smidge better than a little bit better?
Well, we’ll take that, won’t we?!!!
Grow your happiness with smiles. A smile is one of the ways we can improve our happiness – and it’s a powerful one! If we practice smiling (and even taking it up a notch with a little extra self-reaffirmation) throughout the day … each day … every day … we can build a happiness and healthiness habit that can accumulate goodness, happiness, and healing in our lives.
With this, you can add SMILES to your Healing Toolkit of Goodness to be used daily and even more for extra tough times.
Remember. Happiness doesn’t come from the absence of darkness or bad things happening in life… although sure, that could help SO MUCH!!!! The thing is, life is gonna happen. It’s just how it rolls. But happiness comes through in us in how we deal with life. How we cope. How we approach life and choose to be.
If you want to be happy, you can be! Step by step. Practice by practice. Habit by habit. And smiling is a great and powerful place to start!
Grow your happiness with smiles. I love smiling. I love how it feels. I love how it sparks smiles in others. And I love how easy it is to do. I love how quickly it brightens my face and lifts my heart and my mood. I love how it grows my happiness and helps me heal! I love that it’s a quick and easy practice like Practicing Gratitude to help me grow and heal and feel happiness in my life. I hope sharing these practices and habits with you will help you grow and heal and feel happiness in your life, too!
Create and Grow Your Self-Care!
Want to dig even deeper into your Self-Care? Snag your copy of my “Mary Kate’s Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!”
When you find yourself feeling low, negative, unhappy –
doubting yourself – maybe your confidence has taken a bit of a tumble &
your self-worth is low …
Grab my Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!
You can start feeling better and start smiling again!
Filled with empathetic & supportive Love and Big Hugs!
Delightfully cheerful & colorful art will lift & brighten your smile!
14 loving, big hugging, and supporting pages include proven feel better strategies:
Reaffirmations & Positive Self-Talk
Gratitude Acknowledgements
Smiling POSitudes
Additional supporting ideas to help you find your calm and happiness again through self-care and self-love
Bonus Love-You Supports and Resources section
Find more gratitude, POSitude, and Self-Care from me at Etsy!
Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!
Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!
Until next week …
I’m smiling big and brightly and sending you the love in my heart! I’m holding and hugging you tight! May your day be filled with BIG Smiles, lots of love, and some giggles sprinkled in! Love and Big Hugs,
