A high-schoolmate who was in my sister’s class has a fantastic method of focusing on the positive. In her daily activities, she makes it a point to look for the heart.

It’s There If You Look For the Heart

Fran was in my sister’s class and was always incredibly cheerful and seemingly loved life. She’s on the West coast of the U.S. now so I follow her on Facebook. Each day she looks for an unexpected heart-shape in her life. It could be a knot in a tree, or an unusual swirl in her latte. Most recently, it was a heart-shaped walnut piece.

This daily ritual reminds me of Mr. Rogers’ advice from his mom when he was frightened. She told him to look for the helpers. If you haven’t seen the documentary about him, Wont’ You Be My Neighbor?, I highly recommend it. There’s a story in it that always makes me cry even when I’m just thinking about it. Like right now as I write this. If you’ve seen the documentary, the story is toward the end when the Westboro Baptist Church cultists protest Mr. Rogers’ funeral.

Any ritual or activity that sets your mind in search of the positive aspects of life is a good one. Even if it’s just looking for that joyful character Waldo in a complex cartoon image. I may make it a point to start looking for random hearts in my life and see how it affects my overall disposition.

Feel free to send me photos of any that you find in your life too.

Readers’ Comments/Questions

Regarding the nail polis, LauraRose writes:

Are yours the sea-green nails? I notice your hands are carefully hidden in the other photos—darn it!

Yes! Those are mine in the bottom left. A few fun facts. First, I got gel polish with a matte finish. As a newbie, I had no idea how difficult it was to remove this method of polishing. I ended up peeling most of it off. It wasn’t until after it was gone that someone told me how bad that was for my nails. I’m glad I have strong nails. Second, despite the pastel nature of this color, they GLOWED IN THE DARK!!! Yes…every night when I went to bed I saw these ghostly, glowing fingernails (and toenails).

Current Crochet

You might have guessed that the heart in the feature image today is in the middle of the current Thermal Crochet Beanie I’m working on.

I’ve completed all of the increases, so the hat will start to bucket shortly (if I can use bucket as a verb). I’m quite liking the wedges of color this design is creating with these two yarns.