Contribution

One of my favorite parts of the morning is reading the comics. Often they are so clever I take a picture to send to my family and friends. Sometimes I cut them out to glue in my quote book. As much as I love technology, the act of physically cutting and pasting makes me feel like a kid. I have spent the last twenty minutes looking back and forth between the picture of this comic from the paper and the digital rendition. Each version gives me a different feeling.

My favorite comic strip is Speed Bump, created by Dave Coverly. I reached out to him this week to ask permission to post his comics on my blog. He said YES, and responded with a kind and generous note, including a link to where I could find a searchable archive of all his work since 2003.

Each Speed Bump cartoon is worth at least a thousand words. They are clever, funny, and insightful. I think they are brilliant.

Comics are a snapshot of our world. Pearls before Swine, hillarious!, covers fake news and a feeling of general dismay with life. Dilbert, another favorite, addresses office politics and, more recently, artificial intelligence in the workplace. Pickles touches on aging and growing old with someone. If you’d like to take a break from depressing news, but still stay in touch with what’s going on, read the comics!

So many things about this discussion inspire me, but let’s boil it down to one.

Today’s inspiration: Contribution

How to use it:

• Notice the little things that make you happy throughout your day.
• Think about how that particular thing came to be. Did someone invent it? Did you buy it? Is it something a person said or did?
• Send an energetic thank-you, or a physical one (see Boomerang post), then give yourself a thank-you for all the things you bring to the world.
• Finally, decide what one thing you will give the world today.

Example:

You take your first sip of coffee and say aaahhh. You think:

Who invented coffee?

How many people had to touch this coffee before it made it to my cup? How many people had to touch this cup for that matter?

How would I describe the smell of coffee to an alien?

What is the exact color of coffee?

How many different ways do people drink coffee?

As you consider, one idea will probably stick. This morning, for me, it’s the lovely smell of coffee. I think to myself, “How will I use this to guide my day?” I decide, “If I feel stressed, I will stop and remember how I feel when I smell fresh coffee beans..like, Nature is perfect. I got this.”

And what will I give the world today? A link to the searchable archive of Dave Coverly’s awesome comic strip, Speed Bump!

Be inspired. Go forth. Create your day.