Leaving for Dublin & Iceland!

Well, it is only 9 hours from now until my flight is scheduled to leave...direct to Dublin, Ireland. I'll be there for a week taking a course on Leadership and Management. It is so strange that I have been thinking about this trip for a long time, and now it is finally here! At least international flights are different from domestic flights in that there is usually no fee for checked bags, and you are given a "free" meal. I say "free" because you have already paid for the meal in your ticket price. I hope that they have peanuts...I really miss the small packs of peanuts. It seems like in the recent past, airlines have switched to pretzels, cookies, or crackers. I just miss those peanuts.

I tend to have my own personal strange traditions that I create. For example, even though I am not a soda ("pop" for those of you in the Midwest) drinker, I used to order a Sprite every time I flew. Recently, that tradition has switched to orange juice. The orange juice is usually pretty good, though one of the few things I am somewhat picky about is my orange juice. I am a fan of Florida's Natural and Tropicana--nothing with high fructose corn syrup or made from concentrate. Many airlines I have flown seem to have Minute Maid, so I end up having to settle for that.

I also have started writing hand-written letters on take-off. For over a year and a half now, I have written at least an average of one hand-written letter per week. I write to friends, former colleagues, and people who I know will either write back or at least truly appreciate my letter. I take the time to hand-write the letters because it shows your genuine interest in taking the time to share your life story with others. There is nothing at all like receiving a hand-written letter personally addressed to you, which you then have to spend time deciphering the writing. However, you can often tell by the way a person writes and by what they write just how much meaning and sentiment is behind the letter. You do not get that same feeling from an e-mail or typed letter, even with changing fonts, highlighting words, or adding color.

As absolutely amazing as it is to receive a letter, writing a letter is not primarily about that. It is about giving. People love to hear your stories! And just the mere task of writing a letter is an inspirational and motivating experience. It puts you at peace and helps you reflect and think about your day, your week, your life. You really feel yourself being genuine and honest.

Going back to the writing a letter at take-off, I just decided one day on an airplane that it would be a fun challenge to write as the plan was going from zero to a few hundred miles per hour, while the plane was shaking on the runway and lifting off. It is indeed a challenge, but one in which I was able to conquer (though my handwriting at that point is not entirely legible!)

So I invite you to start with one person. Find someone you know (family member, relative, friend, colleague, etc.). Write him/her a letter. Do not worry about making it short and do not give yourself a limited time to write. Keep writing until you feel that the letter is finished. If you make a mistake and cross a word out, keep writing. It is more real when you send your first and only written draft of a letter. Put your return address on the envelope and encourage that person to write back. A week later, write a letter to another friend. After a few weeks, write back to the first friend, regardless of whether or not he/she has written back. You do not have to, and should not necessarily, wait for a letter to come back before you write to a friend again. Eventually, your friend will likely get the hint and begin writing back.

This is my first time trying this blog thing out. I have heard many people mention blogs before, however I am now coming to understand how it can be used and all of its features. I will try to updated the blog as frequently as I can. Since I am new at it, I may forget that I created one (at least for a little while.) I will try to remember!

That's all for now!