Extended MMM13 Round-Up: Spreading MORE Love

August 26th, 2010 - filed under: Furthermore » Monday Monthly Mission

Wow! Two whole months of intentional, active kindness. So amazing! And if that’s not enough time to form a real habit, I don’t know what is.

This month I’ve been especially focused on two joy-promoting techniques: setting a smile as my default expression, and being a super mellow super thoughtful driver. These have not been easy for me! I’m often deep in thought while walking my dogs or running my errands and this results in a tense face. It’s been sooo interesting for me to [try to] maintain awareness, relax my face, and smile while I do my deep thinking. Let me tell you, not only does it change how strangers regard you (they smile back!) but it also changes your thought process. Really, amazing stuff.

Okay, I admit it – I *may* have a little bit of road rage. I think it stems from my Hyper Productivity Disorder™ and my desire to go! go! go! all the time. So this month I’ve been forcing myself to relax behind the wheel, by driving slower, waving the other car ahead, and *always* giving the right of way to bicyclists. (I sure do appreciate it when I’m on a bike!)

I feel like these two things have worked wonders on my psyche, and I KNOW I’m putting more goodness into the world this way. Of course, I’ve also been dropping love bombs all over Portland (like inspiration notes, illuminationPositive! cards, butterflies) Love it!

But enough about me, what I really want is to hear from you guys! What have you been up to in our quest to make the world grin a bit bigger? Tell me tell me, I just can’t wait to hear!!!
sign-off

  • http://twitter.com/erosan erosan

    Ero reporting on the butterflies…

    I’ve checked on a couple locations where I pasted the butterflies, and most of them are still there… and since rainy season started a week or so ago, some of them no longer look like butterflies. xD

    Anyways, I at least hope someone looked at them and smiled thinking “hey, what a weird place to find an origami butterfly” ^_^

  • Julie

    I’ve got my IlluminationPositive! cards, which I’m spreading throughout the library where I work. I’d send pictures, but, alas, I have no camera. I’m also thinking of a few other places where they might be appropriate, like in the locker room at the gym.

  • http://veganyummybypeggy.blogspot.com/ peggy

    :) i think your blog is awesome! it has inspired me to smile more

  • Annie

    My boyfriend’s parents have gone interstate for a wedding, so we’re looking after my boyfriend’s little brother and sister. They’re funny, awesome kids so they always make me smile. The sister and I were watching dvds and Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now was playing in the dvd. Just at the ‘so, don’t. Stop. Me. Now.’ part, she stood up, did a silly walk and then span around and raised her arms up. It’s one of those ‘be there’ moments that never sounds funny when you tell it to others, but it was so goofy and perfectly timed that it made my day.
    Also, on the train yesterday was a mama with a little girl (no older than 3) in a pram. As we got to the central station, she took time to say goodbye to every single fellow passenger, including this big burly guy who looked pretty grumpy. He waved and had a big smile and she said “Have a nice day! Have fun!… Be good! Byyyyye!!” It was so damn cute.

  • Saundra

    Been working on smiling more often and intenionally doing so. Also I make sure the 2 monsters that travel with me ;) and I say to any service worker have a nice day even if they don’t return it to us

  • http://www.etsy.com/shop/vtgrrl Carolyn

    Ah, what a month it has been. Overall I have been trying to be more conscious of the “everyday” people I come into contact with. You know the ones. You see them every day as part of your routine, but you are too busy in your own head space to notice them. My goal was to be conscious and present for the month. Here’s what I learned:

    - the young woman at the convenience store that I stop in all the time was finishing her associates degree this month. I asked her about her finals and her qualifying exam. Wished her luck and got reports. She passed!

    - the older woman who walks her dog by my house and has for years got a new dog. Her other one was quite old and had to be put down. I told her how much I missed seeing the other dog, but I was happy she had a puppy. She was surprised I even knew her other dog.

    - Coming out of the vets office, I noticed a homeless man taking a nap on the bench of a picnic table. I had been internally whining about how much the visit cost. I stopped. Shook my self out of my self-pity, and slipped $5 under the man’s bag without waking him. Later during errands I happened to see the same man at the bottle redemption center. He helped me in with my bags.

    That’s my story.

  • http://www.facebook.com/yourcrocodiletears Brianna

    I was waiting in line at a drive thru one weekday morning. My two children were with me, one three, one Waits’ age. I pulled up to the end of the line and noticed out of the corner of my eye that I was getting exasperated hand gestures from a woman nearby. I had been busy talking to my toddler and hadn’t noticed that, while pointing perpendicular to the line, she was trying to get in. I made the universal signals for “sorry didn’t see you- go ahead”. I was sort of irritated, but I just let it roll off. She went ahead and ordered, and I ordered right after her. When I got up to the window to pay the man told me that the woman in front of me had paid for me! I immediately thought of the ongoing mission. I wanted to pay for the person behind me but I chickened out. A couple days later I did it! I was so nervous for some reason, but I thought “I have to pay it forward” so I went ahead and paid for the woman who was getting coffee behind me in the drive thu. Hopefully she will do it for someone else.

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