Fatale Abstraction

Okey-dokey.
I don't generally go in for clubby, herd-type peace/love/unity crap, but this one sounded sorta nice, and hey - it's Cwisbus, so why not? Anyhoo, it's called BlooggersUntie, and it's a day for dyxlesic bloggers to -- no? Not? Uh, er. OK.
Do-over:
Bloggersunite er somesuch. Something wherein we'll toot our own horns about unsolicited acts of kindness.

I hit upon something earlier this year that helped me through lots of stressful moments and sort of lessened the impact of more than a few dookie-events bent on derailing me utterly and the taking down of pegs. Now, if you've read more than a couple minutes' worth of my navel-gazing writing here, you know I worked very hard to climb up on my high horse, and I don't appreciate being lowered in station. I've always been a bit of a stationery (high quality paper)/pen (fountain, thank you) freak, and one particularly nasty day I had an epiphany: "This bad situation is not my entire job. This job is not my entire life. In fact, the good folks I deal with vastly outnumber the ne'er-do-wells-- who can I think of to send a thank-you card to?"

So there it started - whenever the excreta hied to the rapidly-spinning aeration device, I'd commence to turn my energy from the bad situation and instead think of someone beside myself and other than the bad person.™ I got very much better, very quickly. Not too much later, every so often, someone would mention to me that they were so surprised and delighted to get a lovely little note. A couple people even said it made their day. One person told me she got home from work, alone, feeling unloved, and that she walked to her mailbox thinking "why bother? It's just bills," and to her surprise, my little note let her know someone had thought of her, out of the blue. That touched my heart, because what started as a (selfish) re-focusing exercise turned into a way to express genuine warmth for other people and maybe brighten their days.

Call me a cornball. See if I care. Just don't remind me of it next time I'm donning my bitch gear. I don't want anyone getting the ideer I'm just a softie, or anything.
__________________________________
While we're on the subject of doing nice things for others:
Prolly lots of y'all have already chosen and contributed to various charities in your area and the world over by now. I'd like to tell you about my favorite. I cannot say enough good things about Soldiers' Angels, but I'll make a tiny effort in that direction. 85-90% of every donated dollar is applied directly to helping the men and women of our military, and that's an exceptionally high ratio. Donations go to provide care packages, assistance for soldiers' families, and when I first became aware of this organization, they were providing laptops for soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital--many of these laptops were specially adapted so that soldiers missing part or all of their fingers/hands could still use their computer for its many applications such as remaining connected with the outside world via the internet. Also at that site, you may choose to adopt a soldier and to send friendly note of support and encouragement to one of our men or women overseas, as well as the occasional package.

I believe the most important contributions any of us can make are in our own families and communities, but it's also important to reach a little further afield occasionally, and I think this is a great way to help folks who may not be in our own back yards, but to whom we all are related in some small way, and to whom we are indebted. I hope you'll consider adding this to your list of important charities.