Category: Sunlight

Mr. Bean

Posted on by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

When Mr. Bean premiered on HBO on Thursdays in the early 1990s, I was immediately in love.  It was the funniest thing I had ever seen, and I wouldn’t have missed a week of the show for anything.  I was all in, complete with a very large Mr. Bean sweatshirt I wore proudly to middle school.

Now, I’ve introduce our kids to Mr. Bean, and they find his comedic genius just as hilarious as I do, (although our younger one does find him to be a bit “creepy” sometimes, understandably so.)  Anyway, if you’re ever in need of a good laugh, Rowan Atkinson is the man.

Along with the Mr. Bean episodes, there are some hilarious clips from live performances:

Mr. Bean Plays the Drums

Mr. Bean at the Olympics

Montague Workshop

Posted on by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

Just now discovering Montague Workshop and falling in love with it all.  Haven’t watched all the available videos yet, but have cried happy tears in all of these below.  Watch them.  This is what Keep in the Sunlight is for.

Hope in the Guggenheim

A Story About a Bird

A Joyful Rebellion

Graduation Speech from the Future

 

Update:
I also bought two of Brad’s beautiful books, which I can’t believe I haven’t posted on yet.  And, I’m SO excited about the new one coming soon!

 

 

Sparrow Club

Posted on by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

I have just learned about this incredible program, and, if you aren’t familiar, I must share.  Sparrow Clubs is a program started in the 1990s to help children or teens in medical need.  Schools and organizations adopt a child, or “sparrow,” for the year and help raise funds for the family’s medical expenses.  But here’s where it gets even better.  The funds are actually donated by a local organization, but are only earned once the children from the organization do volunteer work in their community.

There is so much to love about this program, and the first time I watched a video, I didn’t even realize hot tears were pouring down my face.  The sparrows are not only given assistance with their expenses, but they also have a community of support behind them.  The children or teens who are volunteering take on a new purpose and are often opened up to the idea of helping others.  And then, the community itself is benefitting from all the hours and hours of community service given.  It is definitely a win-win-win situation, and my heart is lit up to know programs like this exist.  It looks like this program seems to mostly be in Oregon, but I do also see some locations in Washington and Arizona.  I hope to see programs like this spread.  We need more of this in our world.

While there are many videos, here is a sampling:
Sparrow Club: 25 Years
The Sparrow Effect
Trailer
In Their Own Words

Happy Thoughts

Posted on by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

In 1990, there was a book published called, 14,000 Things to Be Happy About.  I don’t remember exactly when my family purchased it, but I remember LOVING this book.  We had the daily calendar too.  I remember delighting in filling blank journals with my own lists of happy things:
–rainy, Sunday mornings
–my stuffed animal, Bunny
–freshly baked chocolate chip cookies
…things like that.

What I’ve come to realize about myself is that if I start worrying or thinking negatively, my mind can take off in that direction at an alarming speed.  Scary fast.  BUT, the good news is that my mind can just as easily and quickly take off in the opposite direction of happy thoughts, if I just give it the tiniest bit of guidance.  When I was a young teen, and even a young adult, I was pretty good at finding that space to encourage myself to look for the good and reframe things.  But, in these sleep-deprived, muddled days, I’m struggling with that quite a bit.

It wasn’t recently when reading this lovely post on my friend’s Patreon page that I even remembered my “happy” journals.  She created a “jar of joy” full of beautiful, decorated strips of paper that shared her “moments of goodness.”    I really love this idea.  It seems like a fun, simple way to remember some of the things in life that bring joy.  It got me thinking of different ways to create a collection of happy thoughts:

–happiness or gratitude journals
–a weekly chalkboard space for the family to jot down happy thoughts (Snap a pic at the end of the week, if you’d like.)
–a joy jar for yourself or for friends to contribute to, as well
–maybe a gift of a joy jar to a gift recipient (So, maybe have each guest at a party or reception write down a happy thought or memory associated with the guest(s) of honor.)
–a nightly dinner ritual to say something we’re happy about or grateful for in that moment

Anyway, I think the more we can appreciate about this wonderful Life, the more we will treat ourselves, others, and our world with kindness and respect.  And, in that way, this small act of finding things to be happy about can start changing the world for the better.

(When I looked up the book, 14,000 Things to Be Happy About, I came across this awesome website!  It’s colorful and fun, and when you click each section, including the calendar at the top, you’ll be able to view a list of happy thoughts for that topic.  You can also use the refresh button to the right of the list to get more happy ideas.  It looks like the author, Barbara Ann Kipfer, has many books of collections to help you find the good in your days!)

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