{"id":698,"date":"2015-11-06T06:50:07","date_gmt":"2015-11-06T11:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=698"},"modified":"2015-11-05T23:29:20","modified_gmt":"2015-11-06T04:29:20","slug":"week-60-eight-weeks-to-happyness-connect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=698","title":{"rendered":"Week #60 – Eight Weeks to Happyness: CONNECT!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Strange<\/a>

Strange Magic\u00a0(photo credit: Grace Church)<\/p><\/div>\n

[Editor’s note: This week’s post\u00a0comes on the heels of losing yet another soul too soon: to the family, friends, loved ones, co-workers, clients, and children of Valerie Lupo (Mount Olive class of 1997)\u00a0— my heart is with you. \u00a0May every connection, big and small, strengthen and support you in the days, weeks, and months ahead. I dedicate this post to her mom Jodi…and her beautiful Val.]<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Week #60 – Eight Weeks to Happyness: CONNECT!<\/strong><\/p>\n

One year ago today, Rob’s hairstylist Jodi tracked me down because she was remembering and missing Rob. \u00a0She shared stories about his visits to the salon…and then she mentioned that a certain song (“Strange Magic” by ELO) reminded her of him. \u00a0I wrote about that on Week #9<\/a> — and challenged you to reach out and connect with someone when a song (or word, or place, or food) reminded you of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

One year later…this post is once again dedicated to Jodi, and her daughter Valerie who passed away earlier this week. \u00a0I got word of Val’s passing via Facebook on Tuesday…and my heart immediately sank for Jodi, her family, and all who knew and loved Val. \u00a0The next few days and weeks will be beyond difficult…and I know now the truth of what lies ahead: an ever-changing\u00a0but endless\u00a0grief.<\/p>\n

Our Ten Weeks to Happyness is underway — and it may seem strange to tie the subject of death or grief to Happyness — but this is where we have to take the lead. \u00a0Horrible things happen. \u00a0Unimaginable, unexplainable, incomrehendible things. \u00a0In October we talked about setting priorities, taking action, and living up to who we say we are (or want to be). \u00a0This week I can’t help but take a step back and challenge us, while we’re in hot pursuit of your own dreams and goals, to REACH OUT\u00a0and CONNECT with someone else who is struggling!<\/p>\n

Especially someone who is\u00a0grieving.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Grief is one of the loneliest roads a person can travel — because each loss is unique to the griever. \u00a0We don’t need to fix it, or make sense of it, or spin it — we can just be lost in it as much as the other person and say we don’t know why…we just know, and we’re really\u00a0really\u00a0<\/em>sorry.<\/p>\n

A little connection goes a LONG way. \u00a0Don’t hold back.<\/p>\n

Your Happyness Challenge\u00a0for the week ahead:\u00a0CONNECT with someone this week! \u00a0<\/strong>Send an email or text, make a phone call or reach out to let them know you are thinking of them. \u00a0If you know them better — make some food, offer to help with a chore, or run an errand. \u00a0(And if they’re already gone — talk to them out loud, write a letter, or share a story about them with someone else.)<\/p>\n

Grief knows no time limit…but neither does love! \u00a0That is “Strange Magic” indeed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spread Happyness — CONNECT! \u00a0And share\u00a0your experiences in the comments!<\/p>\n

11\/6\/15 by Grace Church
\n<\/em>\u00a9 Grace Church<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Editor’s note: This week’s post\u00a0comes on the heels of losing yet another soul too soon: to the family, friends, loved ones, co-workers, clients, and children of Valerie Lupo (Mount Olive class of 1997)\u00a0— my heart is with you. \u00a0May every connection, big and small, strengthen and support you in the days, weeks, and months ahead. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=698"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":708,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698\/revisions\/708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}