Encouragement – Page 38

The Greening, a Feis, a Friend and Bach: A Pre-St. Patty Day Weekend in Savannah

Posted on March 10, 2013March 10, 2014 by Neal Saye

A few reflections on the weekend BEFORE St. Patrick’s Day weekend here in Savannah.

THE GREENING ****

One of Savannah’s coolest St. Patrick’s Day traditions has to be the greening of the fountains. In a week, we will welcome the city’s most popular holiday. And at noon Friday the beautiful fountain in Forsyth Park, surrounded by several hundred people, morphed into a bright green explosion of water color. Soon thereafter the other fountains in Savannah followed suit.

Tangent Ahead: Okay, I know this is a Happiness Blog and all, but let me vent a second, okay? Please? But first, a little background: While I taught up the road at Georgia Southern, I heard this refrain from time to time: “GSU? Oh, what a party school!” That got on my last nerve. My very last. (Similar to the Kardashians’ dilemma over what to do after “reality” TV.) Why did the comment irk me? Simple. GSU (or UGA or Emory or Harvard) is a party school if students choose to party there. But GSU (etc.) is a great place to get a wonderful education for those students who choose to do so (which, by the way, are the vast majority).

In a similar vein, what do many people associate with our city’s incredibly popular March holiday? Drinking on River Street, of course. But that aspect of the St. Patrick’s Day celebration is only one part of the wonderful holiday, albeit a decidedly profitable one, and the one that often gets the most press. However, so much more, SO MUCH MORE captures the attention and interest of most Savannahians. Which brings me back to the greening of the fountains. End of Tangent.

Thinking I would just mosey up to the fountain and watch somebody toss in a bit of green dye, I was shocked at the size of the gathering and the palpable excitement of the event.

Before the greening:

After the greening:

Here’s James A. Ray, the Grand Marshal of the 2013 St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

And here’s his sister, Nancy Ray Johnson, who is the second female in Savannah St. Patrick’s Day history to be the Aid to the Grand Marshal.

TARA FEIS ****

And then on Saturday at Emmet Park near the river, Tara Feis (feis= festival, pronounced “fesh”) burst on the holiday scene with Irish music, dancers, food and fun. This annual celebration of Erin Go Bragh–Ireland the Beautiful is completely family friendly and alcohol-free.

Here’s a bit of the Glor Na Daire Irish dance school performance:

And perennially popular local singer/songwriter Harry O’Donoghue‘s closing song, “All the Best”:

Saints & Shamrocks ****

After enjoying the festival for a couple of hours, I went in search of the official St. Patrick’s Day Parade Magazine, and finally found it at the beautifully delightful Saints & Shamrocks boutique …

… specializing in religious gifts, Irish imports and fair trade gifts. There I met the welcoming, helpful owner and new friend Hope (I love that name) Ebberwein …

… who gave me a copy of the magazine.

[Should I dye my facial hair green for the parade viewing? Now be honest. (Some of you weren’t when I asked if I was too old to wear skinny jeans. See item#4 in the skinny jeans hyperlink.)]

Bach Music Marathon ****

Still not finished with the day, I walked into the Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church on Calhoun Square, where organist Christopher Jacobson from South Carolina sat at the incredible pipe organ performing a two-day marathon of the COMPLETE organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach (257 individual pieces!).

Beautiful.

I get tired just trying to hum through Abba’s three most popular #1 hits.

What a tremendously festive weekend! A greening. A feis. A new friend. And a concert. I wonder what the actual Saint Patrick’s Day Twenty-Thirteen will hold. I’ll let you know. I’m hosting a little parade viewing party, since my place lies directly on the parade route.

Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers (3/8/13)

Posted on March 8, 2013March 8, 2013 by Neal Saye

It’s Friday All Day Long! Here’s what I am happy about:

1. My SCAD ENGL 193 (Composition for International Students) classes and I holding an informal drop-in Visual Essay Exhibition on Wednesday. A rousing success! I was/am SO proud of my students: artists showing off their work!

Here’s the blurb about the exhibition which I printed out on little programs:

*************************************************************************************************************

VISUAL ESSAYS:

A Classroom Exhibition Habersham Hall 3/6/13 SCAD

For this project, students in Neal Saye’s ENG 193, Composition for International Students, both think “essay” and forget “essay.” They can do that—they’re smart! How is the project like an essay? Well, they compose, they have a focus and thesis, they have structure, they have support. But it does not evolve in traditional essay format. It births as a sculpture, a collage, a scrapbook, a video, a painting, a mobile, a form, a food, fashion, theatrical presentation, etc.

In The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho presents various themes about life and dream following. After reading the incredible text, students choose a theme, a symbol, a character, an idea, etc. and then create.

The visual essay project, then, is a visual representation of one topic narrowed into a clear thesis/point/perspective/idea. The students’ challenge: how to “show” their thesis.

This exhibition reveals their interpretations.

*************************************************************************************************************

And some photos from the exhibition:

And some pics of the visual essays themselves:

2. My iPhone (and sense enough to minimally operate it). Can anybody else remember when a phone was this device you used to call people … and … like, talk?

3. The expectant thought of fresh, fat, orange-red, Vine-Ripened Tomatoes this summer. I nearly cried at lunch yesterday at Panera when this pinkish thing pretending to be a tomato slice fell out of my tuna sandwich. I was so embarrassed I put a napkin over it.

4. Raw almonds

5. Our incredible sense of hearing. It’s so amazing. (Well, except when, for some reason, I came across the band Screeching Weasel’s song “Bark Like a Dog.”)

That does it. I’m going to start a band, Neal and the Bansheeing TurtlePins. I’m working on our first really big hit, “Knead Like Julia, Martha and Paula (Before the Weight Loss).”

Have a Beautiful Weekend. You HEAR me?

Encouragement, Savannah Joy

Y Happiness. Y Happiness? Ask Richard the Joyful-Hearted

Posted on March 5, 2013April 6, 2022 by Neal Saye

Several years ago, after my underground (!) gym (really, it was underneath Broughton Street) closed in the historic district of Savannah where I live, I joined the nearby Habersham YMCA. I had never belonged to a YMCA before–but I had danced to the song.

From the very first day I have been SO impressed with the folks who work at the Habersham Y. They are without exception welcoming, encouraging and fun to see each time I waddle in.

ALWAYS smiling, the MOST encouraging, MOST positive, FRIENDLIEST Habersham employee has to be RICHARD JOHNSON.

I’ve never seen Richard without a smile on his face and a cheerful word to share. He most definitely meets the criteria of a Balcony Person (Balcony Post Link One, Link Two). Balcony people are those folks you come in contact with who encourage you, bless you, inspire you, give of themselves in some way. They climb the steps up into your balcony, so to speak, lean over the railing and yell, “You’re doing fine! Keep going! You look great! You’re almost there!”

So it is with Richard. As he wheels through the busy gym, his voice can be heard above the whir of elliptical machines and the clang of free weights, greeting every person he sees: “Hey, Neal” “How you doing, Carl?” “Come on now, Janice, you can do more than that!” “Alright now!” Richard is the very definition of a Balcony Person. He infuses the Habersham YMCA with encouragement and joy.

I asked Richard a few questions about himself and his views about happiness.

Thanks to Richard and folks like him who help make ho-hum days into Occasions of Happiness.

Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers (3/1/13)

Posted on February 28, 2013March 1, 2013 by Neal Saye

It’s Friday again! Here are a few Happy Bringers.

1. Samples of some of my SCAD international students’ work turned in this week. The assignment is called the Visual Essay and is based on a book we read, Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. After reading the book, the students choose a theme, a character, a symbol, an idea, etc, and “make” their essay, using the composition concepts of thesis, structure, organization, support, and detail to get their point across. Here are some completed projects.

2. My obsession with Irish blessings, quotes, and anything Savannah-St. Patrick’s Day-ish:

“May you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live.”

3. My brand-spanking-new NealEnJoy blog card holder (and cards):

4. A picture that doesn’t make me look too fat:

(Can I wear skinny jeans at my age?)

5. Taking my ENG 193 (Composition for International Students) classes on a really fascinating docent-led tour of the exhibits at the SCAD Museum of Art during the recent DeFINE ART event (which was actually held at three of SCAD’s campuses in Savannah, Atlanta, and Hong Kong).

[More complete blog post on the museum tour to follow soon.]

Have an Artfully Beautiful Weekend!

In Our Own Backyard

88 Reasons to Love the Carters

Posted on February 13, 2013March 10, 2022 by Neal Saye

Last night I drove through the monsoon up to my old stomping ground, Georgia Southern University, to hear former President and First Lady Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter speak.

“An Evening with the Carters: A Conversation with the Former President and First Lady”

Oh. My. Goodness. What an incredibly encouraging evening. Did you know that President Carter is 88 years of age? And going stronger than ever! (I’m just … “39” yet had to detour through Wendy’s drive-thru and grab a #1 with cheese just to get enough energy to calm my rain-soaked nerves and waddle into the Hanner Gym in some measure of consciousness.)

I loved how the Carters were both entertaining and issues-specific on point. They divided the evening into segments of their life journey–with the President talking about their early years before the White House, followed by Mrs. Carter discussing their years in Washington. They then took turns sharing about their work with The Carter Center in Atlanta, dealing with many issues which other organizations don’t touch (eradication of tropical diseases, for example). The packed house interrupted the talk with applause at least a dozen times–and deservedly so. President Carter kept emphasizing the dire need for a return to non-partisan cooperation in our political world, as well as the responsiblity that each of us has to hold our politicians responsible for the decisions they make and the laws they pass.

They seemed SO real, SO logical, SO much in touch with the possibility of changing the world into a better, healthier place.

The coolest part of the evening: how this couple, who have been married over 60 years, kept deferring to one another. Their respect and love for each other came though so very clearly. (“Asking Rosalynn to marry me was the best decision I ever made.”) (“I grieved when Jimmy wasn’t re-elected. I know he would have been a better president than the one who won.”)

I sat next to this friendly, talkative couple, Leon and Morrie Shelkoff. Morrie is a school teacher, and Leon ran Leon’s Menswear in the Statesboro Mall for thirty years. They exuded happiness–look at those smiles!

I drove back down I-16 to Savannah with buoyed spirits and a joyful respect for compassionate leadership.

(P.S. I met then-Governor Carter at a Governor’s Honors Luncheon way back when I was in high school. Even as a teenager, I had great admiration for the man.)

JoyInciters

Reblog: JoyInciter #3 — The Happiness Box

Posted on February 7, 2013February 7, 2013 by Neal Saye

In preparation for tomorrow’s keynote address at the Student Success in Writing Conference here in Savannah, I am reblogging these three pertinent posts. EnJoy!

So far I have introduced two wonderfully effective strategies for increasing the frequency and intensity of happiness in our lives: JoyInciter #1–the Thanksgiving Book and JoyInciter #2–the Walking Into strategy. Are you practicing with either of them? The third JoyInciter–the Happiness Box– is both fun and transformationally creative. Let’s talk about it.

Recently I (along with Mr. Happy) presented a workshop for the Georgia Southern Writing Project and The Thinking and Learning Institute at City Campus in downtown Statesboro. (Gosh, that’s a mouthful.) (By the way, City Campus is a very cool entrepreneurial outreach of Georgia Southern.) This workshop, titled “Happiness in a Box,” is based on today’s third JoyInciter.

(Am I too old to wear that shirt? That VITAL question just occurred to me.)

(June Joyner, the Director of the GSU Writing Project, Mr. Happy and Yours Truly)

Before we discuss the “how” of the Happiness Box, let’s briefly examine two “why’s.” First, theoretically speaking, that which we consistently place our “gaze” upon, we will SEE in our world, in our reality. (And all our realities are in constant morph mode, depending on where and how long we place our “mindsight.”) My school, Georgia Southern, for example, is a party school for those who choose to see it in that light. However, GSU is a rigorous academic institution for eyes which view it from that perspective. I suggest to you (and what I’m about to say is the HEART of this blog) that we need to take great care about where we place our consistent, ongoing attention.

The second Happiness Box “why” is childlike and fundamental: making and maintaining this box is FUN and makes one happier, more excited, hopeful, and expectant of good.

To start, find a shoebox-sized box. You can choose to decorate it if you like, but at least write a Statement of Intention on the box somewhere. Here’s one of my Happiness Boxes:

And my Statement of Intention (written on the underside of the box cover) is simple: “The contents of this box make me happy.”

Next, go through magazines, brochures, newspapers, etc. and find pictures of that which gives you joy. Anything. I suggest that you DO NOT worry about trying to organize or structure this process–have fun with it. Look for pictures, colors, words, abstractions that “light you up” in some way. Cut them out and put them in your box. Also look for photos, little items, paint samples, memorabilia which cause your heart to sing. You have thus started the Happiness Box strategy.

Keep adding to your box, and from time to time, empty it onto your dining room table or your bed or floor. Look at all that you have accumulated. If you are like most of my students (and me), you will see categories of happiness begin to emerge: family, material desires, spirituality, food, goals, accomplishments, hobbies, memories, sports, pets, etc.

The more you add to your happiness box, the greater the sense of joy and expectation. A wonderful added benefit is that by creating the box, you begin to get CLEARER about that which you really want. It’s so much fun to look through your accumulated desires.

Here are some workshop participants working on their boxes.

And here are some Happiness Boxes from students in my English Composition II classes this semester:

(Amanda Hedrick and Mr. Happy at the workshop.)

So there it is, JoyInciter #3, The Happiness Box. I urge you to make one for yourself, and begin to get clearer about what makes you joyful and exuberant.

(P.S. In my classoes at school, there are various writing prompts and assignments connected to this project.)

Life Experiences

Old and New

Posted on January 1, 2013January 1, 2013 by Neal Saye

Over Christmas, I took this picture of my eighty-five-year-old mother, Geneva, and my five-month-old granddaughter Madison (of grandtwins Matthew and Madison fame).

85 years. 5 months. Two wonderful ages. Old and young.

“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?” ~Satchel Paige

Holiday Joy, The Joy and Wisdom of Children

Santa, Baby

Posted on December 25, 2012December 1, 2021 by Neal Saye

Grandtwins Madison and Matthew:

Grandsons Gabriel and Daniel:

Most awkwardly funny moment of the holiday so far–wait, let me set the scene. We were in the incredibly beautiful and highbrow lobby of the Ritz-Carlton–Buckhead in Atlanta over the weekend. Just past these Dickensian carolers:

Resplendent Santa standing by the fireplace, creating a perfect Christmas tableau, with adoring children all around. Without warning and with great, earnest conviction, five-year-old grandson Daniel yelling, “He’s a Fake!” His parents threatening loss of Christmas coming.

Joyful Christmas to you!