Spark Happiness

I bought these fun, faux matchsticks from ModCloth a while back and decided to try to do one a week. That doesn't seem too tough? Kind of a fun lil' project for myself. So here goes on the first one.

Write down one thing you love about 5 different people.

• Bailey - Her genuine excitement when I come over to visit. The best was the night I came over and she had no clue I was showing up. I walked in the door, she was seated on the sofa, looked over, then went back to watching TV. Suddenly she snapped her head back when she realised it was me and launched herself, belly first, off the couch and screamed "Yeeeeeessssssa!!!!"

• Anne - I so admire her ability to dive right in and try new things. This woman is fearless. She wanted to take up ballroom dancing and she did. All by herself. Then she wanted to try yoga and began taking a class as well. She will go into the city alone and see symphonies and opera. If there's no one that can or wants to join her, that doesn't stop her.

• Sydney - This girl is creative to the core of her being. She is constantly thinking of artistic ways to do everything. She has such an eye for bohemian style and fashion, draws incredibly and even had one of her pieces turned into a tattoo for a friend, she took up sewing so that she could thrift shop for clothes (she's also an environmentalist) and wanted to alter certain pieces to fit her small frame. It seems that whatever she wants to do, she excels at, and it's really wonderful to see the woman she is becoming.

• Stuart - The man behind The AIDS Memorial on Instagram. His never-ending efforts to create a safe place for people to remember loved ones lost and to be able to read through the comments and NEVER read ANYTHING cruel or negative (except maybe the post about Roy Cohn, but that monster deserved every nasty comment he got) is a rare thing in social media. Stuart has introduced me to so many lives that I never would have been touched by and his work is monumentally important in my life.  In a Loverboy article he stated the following as his reason for creating the page:
So many people have passed away and been forgotten. Maybe not by their relatives or friends, of course, but AIDS is not a subject that we want to be reminded of. Older people don’t want to relive it. It’s too painful and there is still the feeling they will be judged all over again for being connected to someone who died of AIDS. Then the younger generation? Well, why would they be interested? Even though a generation of artists, activists and every day folk were just wiped out, it is now all ancient history to them.
However, I have always been interested in these stories, long before I created The AIDS Memorial (TAM) last April. Yes, there is The AIDS Quilt, there are public memorials but I have always wanted something more accessible and human. Not a block of stone as a substitute or a relic hidden away just like AIDS was/is! I wanted to instantly share the stories that I found.

• Mary - My sister-in-law possesses a seemingly effortless joy in her life that she exudes. It's physically contagious. Her laugh is pure perfection and always brings a smile to my face. Whenever I have news that I want a huge reaction or a pat on the back, I always turn to Mary because she will be an ecstatic cheerleader and make me feel all kinds of wonderful. I absolutely adore her.