Growing Like a Weed

The House of Shine fervently asserts that inside everyone is a little shine, so you can imagine how much we love a website that believes the same thing about days of the year.

This month we have busily worked our way through the Brownielocks.com list of March holidays, each day showing appreciation for something. Holidays have been as simple as honoring your name (March 7) or lips (March 16) or as important as honoring the contributions of programs such as the Peace Corp (March 3), Salvation Army (March 10), or Girl Scouts (March 12).

Today, dandelions.

It is actually Weed Appreciation Day, but I want to talk about dandelions because they are yellow (And, yes I did verify that it was "Weed" Appreciation Day, not "Weed" Appreciation Day) .

Google dandelions if you want to read up on factoids such as: their culinary and medicinal uses; how they are used to make wine; and that they are host to a festival in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

My focus is on what makes this weed shine.

Dandelions, like most weeds are strong and tenacious. They grow thickly where they are not wanted and, often, in spite of gardner's obsessive attempts to destroy them. Weeds - dandelions included - are tough.

Here is what I really love. Dandelions have something called papplus which functions sort of like a parachute. Papplus carry dandelion seeds (achene) through the air and over long distances. It is this relationship between the papplus (the parachute) and the achene (the seed) that allows this weed to, literally, be found world wide.

While others laugh at the idea of celebrating Weed Appreciation Day I actually get it.

In fact, I like to think we have something in common with dandelions and not just because dandelions are yellow. I think we have something in common, because in a world where our spirits can feel under attack by the tragic events in Japan and the horrors of the middle east, and where a lagging economy combined with rising prices gives us plenty to worry about, we - like dandelions - are strong and tenacious.

And because, each day I commit to providing the seed and you commit to being the parachute who helps carry our message through the air and over long distances.

Go forth today and be a dandelion. Happy Weed Appreciation Day.

Shining off until tomorrow...

Above and Beyond

If you are visiting the House of Shine today it is probably because you are a friend of the Yellow Envelope Project and because you value our weekly ritual. It means you connect with Shine Principle #10 - Spread Shine.

And, if you are one of the ones who goes a step further, by using ten of the 10,080 minutes you are given each week to actually write our winner an anonymous letter of gratitude, then you must also Realize the Impact of Little Things (Shine Principle #5).

Those who connect with one or both of these Shine principles will understand why, today, we will not flood someone's mailbox but, instead, we will join www.brownielocks.com in celebrating Create Your Own Holiday Day.

I can't think of a more fun way to Spread Shine and Realize the Impact of Little Things than by creating and celebrating a random, made-up holiday. It might even rival the fun we have showering perfect strangers with yellow envelopes.

There are a few ways I can think to do this.

One. Click on www.brownielocks.com and search her site for a holiday you think would be fun to celebrate with your family, a certain friend or a group of friends, a sibling or parent, the women in your play group, neighbors in your culdesac, or colleagues from work.

Second, you could close your eyes and randomly click on a month. Then close your eyes again and scroll down for the amount of time it takes you to say "super-cal-i-frag-i-listic-ex-pe-al-i-do-cious." Begin a tradition by celebrating that day.

I just tried it and here's what I got: September 17, Constitution Day. I know with planning and creativity on my part, I could have great fun celebrating this holiday with my boys each year. I've got six months to work up my plans.

Or be a little more deliberate. Select two numbers that mean something to you and follow your oracle to see where it takes you. Both of my parents were born on the eighteenth of a month (dad, July and mom, August), so the number 18 was my oracle. But, there is no eighteenth month, so instead I will try my luck by clicking on the first month (January) and the eighth day.

Fun. I landed on Show and Tell Day at Work. I could see having lots of fun with that during an annual staff meeting or over lunch with some of my favorite officemates.

Or, four. Venture off on your own, with no help from Brownielocks and use whatever criterion you want.

I'm scanning my desk right now for ideas and already I have come up with some possibilities. Tell me what you think.

A pin cushion makes me wonder if there shouldn't be a National Tailors Measure Up Day. My tailor, Sunny, deserves it (no kidding, that's her name). A free movie pass jars my thinking and makes me want to call my girlfriends, so we can begin our very own Chick Flicks Day.  Girl-bonding, chick flicks, popcorn, and pjs all day long. Or what about the colored pens sitting in a cup on my shelf? They reminded me of how much I love side walk chalk and suddenly I want to initiate my very own International Side Walk Chalk Day. Grab a bucket and join me in covering your corner of the world with images and words that Shine. 

How about you? Will you Realize the Impact of Little Things and Spread Shine by joining in today's celebration of Create Your Own Holiday Day?

And if you decide to join in today's celebration, would you be willing to visit us in the Comment Section and tell us all about it? How did you create your holiday? When is it? What's your holiday's name? Who will you celebrate with? Details. We want details.

One more thing. Can there ever be too much celebration? Doesn't the planet shine more when people are looking for reasons to celebrate instead of looking for reasons to be cynical? Take a second and pass on today's post to anyone else you think is up for the challenge of creating his or her own holiday.

Shining off until Monday.

Pee-Can or Puh-con?

Cheryl here! I wasn't so keen on celebrating Pecan Day when I was going over my choices at Brownielocks.com because I had a bad experience with a pecan when I was a child. It probably wasn't the pecans fault. I was probably just sick with a stomach flu or something but the pecan got the blame because I could taste it when... Well, you don't need too much information on that business. You get the picture.

But, then I thought about it some more and the reason that I think Pecans SHINE and that the day should be celebrated by all is because pecan trees are so big and tall and strong and lovely. They resonate home to me. My grandparents had a couple in their yard. I remember collecting and shelling the pecans for my grandparents. And because I loved my grandparents, and because I love the memory of climbing their pecan trees, and because I love the memories that I have of being at my grandparents home, and because pecans are part of those memories, pecans shine!

But how can they shine for you? You don't share my memories of climbing pecan trees or picking and shelling pecans at my sweet grandparents home.

Do you like pecans?

Don't forget to join us tomorrow for another fabulous Yellow Envelope Project Nominee.

Signing off until tomorrow...