MakeBeliefs 2 Help U Smile & Lift Your Spirits:
It’s Almost Summer and You’re Feeling on Top of the World
Here’s the latest installment in our new Make Beliefs Series, ''MakeBeliefs 2 Help U Smile & Feel J_Y.'' They are created to provide comfort and hope to young and old who are feeling distressed and anxious in our too fast-changing and sometimes unforgiving world. It’s our way of making things better by helping you imagine! I created these MakeBeliefs as a way of finding hope.
After a tough winter it’s finally almost summer and we’re all feeling a little freer and looser as we see and feel more sun on us. I hope you, too, are feeling on top of the world in terms of good health, good mind, and the happiness index. What are the things that make you feel great or the things you do to get in a happier state of mind? What things do you think of to toss aside the grumpiness or sadness, even anger, you may feel at times? What does summer mean to you? Please share with us.
There’s a great song to go with this week’s top-of-the-world MakeBeliefs – it’s Aretha Franklin’s version of the classic Sitting on Top of the World, which you can see and hear on YouTube at:
Sing along with Aretha!
And for some fun, here are the opening lines to the song’s lyrics to sing along with Aretha. If you’re feeling a little musical and ready for a Tuesday challenge, how about adding some of your own lines to the introductory lyrics to make it your own? (If you’re not ready to do so, you can see all the written lyrics HERE
Please share your lyrics with us.
I'm sitting on top of the world
I'm rolling along
Yes, rolling along
And I'm quitting
The blues of the world
I'm singing a song
Yes, singing a song…
Talking About Being on Top of the World, Can You Top This?
French tightrope walker Nathan Paulin just broke his own world record as he crossed 2.2km (1.2 miles) of slackline to Mont Saint-Michel in France. (Notice, he seems to slip a bit right at the end but catches and saves himself.) Watch HERE!
Can you imagine what Nathan must have been thinking as he walked across the rope? Was he praying? Was he talking to himself to find words of courage? Was he in a meditative state? What do you think, if anything, was going on in his mind at the time? Give him some thoughts in the picture’s blank thought balloon.
He Has An Amazing Facial Drawing; Now It’s Your Turn to Design One for A Blank Face
A Ukrainian man shown in photo just got a facial tattoo during the Art Weapon festival in Kyiv, Ukraine. At the Art Weapon festival, dozens chose to show their love for their nation by getting inked, with payments for the tattoos going straight to the Ukrainian military as donations. Become the doodling artist you are and create your own facial drawing for the blank face shown here which could use some design and color.
AMAZING: Even in the Midst of War, People Go on Living and Making Vows of Love; Life and the Future March On
A couple are married in Saint Michael's Cathedral Kyiv, Ukraine, as the city hosts events to celebrate Kyiv Day. Following Russia's retreat from areas around the Ukrainian capital, some signs of normal life, like this wedding, have returned to Kyiv. (Photo from theatlantic.com by Christopher Furlong/Getty)
Often, when we’re going through a time of trial, such as war or illness or loss, we think the whole world should stop and pay attention to the pain or hurt we are feeling. But the funny thing about life is that it always goes on, people keep doing what they need to do, such as working and feeding their families, going to the movies, playing sports, getting tattoos. The world somehow does not stop and we continue on, such as this beautiful young Ukrainian couple reciting their marriage vows.
What vows would you want to say to your future partner if you were to get married? How would they reflect your love, your sense of values, even your sense of humor (anyone for an Elvis-themed wedding)? Share with us. Many of us will be going to June or summer weddings and maybe your words will be helpful to people tying bonds of love. Please send them.
And Life Moves So Quickly, Even As It Flows for 95 Years
All babies are beautiful because they just are and also because they hold our hopes for the future.
Ann Turner Cook, whose cherubic baby face was known the world over as the original Gerber baby food baby, recently died at the age of 95, Associated Press reports.
Ms. Cook was 5 months old when a neighbor, artist Dorothy Hope Smith, drew a charcoal sketch of her that was later submitted for a contest Gerber was holding for a national marketing campaign for baby food. The image was such a hit that it became the company’s trademark in 1931 and was used over the years in branding.
I remember seeing Ms. Cook’s image in grocery stores and magazine ads when I was a little boy. Learning of her passing made me think once again of the passage of time, that no matter how young and beautiful and filled with life we each are when young, we will, with time, grow old and leave at a certain point in our lives. If only we could hold time back for a while and once more be that beautiful baby.
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