Hello Dear Ones,
This is a newsletter I wrote a few years ago, and I probably have posted it here before, but I thought you might enjoy seeing it again. Feel free to print it and use it to promote well-being in yourself and others. You know of course these days, people re-run hurts and woes and resentments ad-nauseam, and never rise above anything, which stymies their life, and erases good influence. We can wallow in our woes and it won't get the kitchen clean or the windows sparkling, or the soothing aroma of bread in the oven. As the saying goes, it is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness. Maybe you could illustrate this by turning off the lights and lighting a birthday candle to show how it dispels quite a bit of darkness. You can be that candle in times of darkness.
How to be Happy -- For Young and Old Alike
by Miss Lily-of-the-Valley
If you could know with what delight I find that you, Dear Readers, are seeking worthwhile interests and activities; the kind that develop your character for life. In fact, if you practice some of the things I am suggesting here, you will find that no matter how old you become, you will not lose interest in them. Such things as leisurely walks, reading, teatime, art, music and letter writing, crafts and sewing, feminine dress, gardening and more--- will all pay off in your later years.
These activities in the list below begin in youth and help you in later years. Note: you do not have to feel you missed out on anything if perchance you have reached a certain age and not been able to do any of these things. Begin at any age! I have left some spaces for you to fill in yourself with anything you would like to add to this list.
Homemaking
Hospitality
Tea Time
Feminine Dress
Crafts and Sewing
Art, Music, Reading, Writing
Correspondence
Manners
Outdoors
Hope Chest
Care Giving
Conversation
Fresh Air and Healthful Habits
Now, let us see the possibilities of developing talents and absorbing interests in each of these things, many of which can be found within the pages of the Bible.
Homemaking: There is more to this than cleaning house. It means making the home an appealing place, preparing food in a nutritious and attractive way, learning something about how to manage a day of homemaking and house keeping by yourself, child care, cleanliness and most of all, being as pleasant and kind as you can. Make a list and check off each item as you accomplish it.
Homemaking is easily learned in youth by enjoying the art of playing house. When you enjoy keeping your house as if it were your own playhouse, it brings joy and lightheartedness to what most people dread as dreary tasks.
On your daily list of things to do, be sure to include some aspect of homemaking every day.
Hospitality: This can be a subject in which you can really excel and blossom, for it involves making guests comfortable and happy, and you can practice on your own family. It means setting an attractive table using your best things. It means making sure a guest has an honored place to sit, and that you have a few things planned for them.
Hospitality is best accomplished by preparing food from a planned menu, either your own or from a book or magazine. I highly recommend using Tea Time magazine as a good seasonal menu and recipe plan to help you become a happy hostess.
Hospitality need not be expensive or burdensome. Many people would appreciate a simple box, bag or basket filled with their favorite things.
On your daily list, be sure to extend hospitality to someone in your home each day by helping those who are weary, sad, lonely and need to be “picked up.”
Tea Time: Being young includes enjoying a fancy tea cup with a fragrant scent of hot tea. Children love Bengal Spice, Mothers love their Lemon or Mint tea, and young girls seem to prefer the Strawberry Tea. Your grandmother might like her favorite, Yorkshire Gold. Learn how to make tea properly so that it will turn out well. Observe a 2 o'clock or 3 o'clock tea time ritual just to establish a routine, and it will set you up for life. You will be collecting beautiful tea cups and learning about tea foods. As stated in the hospitality subject, use Tea Time magazine for a guide. The tea time habit can be taken anywhere—from a car trip to a walk down a country road. It is the thing people are using to slow down these days.
Feminine Dress: When you are young, dressing in clothing that is innocent and light-hearted means happy colors and prints that imitate nature. It does not mean showing a lot of skin. The purpose of girlish dress is to provide a pretty covering for yourself. Girls throughout history have enjoyed tracing around paper dolls and cutting out their own dress designs to practice dress designing. Visiting fabric stores for pretty prints that seem to have the right “mood” for a dress design, can bring out your creativity.
Looking through Pinterest for “cottage core” dresses will give you a lot of good ideas for dressing young. Dressing up every day in youthful, pretty clothes, makes a big difference in the way you feel about experiencing all the things on this list. Learning just a little bit about crafts and sewing can be a great help in creating youthful, feminine dress.
Crafts and Sewing: Getting a craft kit or a sewing kit is a good way to begin your creative time with crafts and sewing. You will be glad you did when the days get busy, because the small projects will be very relaxing. It will be nice to include a little craft (making cards, art journals, paper things) or sewing (making some small hand-sewn item) or learn to knit, crochet and other needlework. Just do one small thing so that you can say you at least tried it.
Art, Music, Reading and Writing:
Whether you learn on your
own or take a class, art is a very fulfilling and ennobling activity.
Be sure to include this in your week. If all you do is get an
interesting-to-you coloring book and some fancy crayons, you will be
bringing out the art-side of you and it will give you a pasttime in
all stages of your life.
Music and singing have always been the things that softened tiredness or stress and crowned the most perfect days with added loveliness.
Experience reading a book outside on a nice day. Write a story for someone and illustrate it with you own art work. On a side note, be sure to choose appropriate reading material that builds the soul, and not things that are worthless. If you can't find good books to read, try writing your own stories.
You might be glad if you keep a journal for a little while, to remember how you spend your days and the things you learn. Writing your own magazine or newsletter is very rewarding because you are putting your own ideas and thoughts on paper and sharing it with those you love.
Correspondence, otherwise known as Letter Writing is one of the sweetest activities that forms lifetime friendships. It also helps you understand how to write clearly and be understood, how to be tactful, how to be kind, and how to enjoy the art of communication.
Consider making a newsletter.
If you have no one to write to, trying writing to your Grandmother, Mother, siblings, and even Dear Dad. They love getting letters put on their desk or table in the home, and will likely take time to write back. Remember to always practice the principle of building one another up and bring the best out in others through correspondence. The next of the list is Manners, where you will learn what things are the most tactful to say, whether in letter writing or in conversation.
Manners: While a good manners book is always nice, you can figure out what is mannerly (which the Bible calls courtesy) by observing what goes on in the home. Learn to be sympathetic and learn to find ways to help others. Be careful of other people's possessions and space, and always say please and thank you. Tact is the practice of not saying things that would hurt someone's feelings or create an angry reaction. For example, do not speak in a negative way about things that other people value. When you consider manners, you will find out that while you may let others go first and make sure others are made comfortable first, most manners come from the words of your mouth and your knowledge of tact.
Outdoors: This includes things like:
Make your own flower-picking garden where you can go on a leisurely morning walk and hear the birds sing. This is essential in the art of being young, which help you in life's disappointing times. While outdoors, create your own florist shop and take orders from your family for special get-well bouquets or happy day offerings from your garden. No garden? Use some plant pots and tend them on your porch or indoors by a window.
Hope Chest: I suppose this could also be called a Home Chest because it is a trunk of things you collect for your future home. There are books you can get on how to fill a hope chest.
Go here for HOPE CHEST ideas
If you missed out on the hope chest tradition, it isn't too late to have one. Just fill something with things you like, and there you have it. Never ever say that life has passed you by or that you "missed out" on anything, because these days there are endless possibilities.
These are some things that help girls be young. Life feels good when you are learning to be happy and young. Doing these things will help you later on when you have more serious responsibilities. There is so much to do, one cannot spare the time to be bored. We all need food, good clothing designers and hairdressers, good story writers and friendship letters, cards and home made gifts, good conversation, music and art. There is no telling what this will bring into you life and the many happy hours you can spend being young.
In observing all of these things you will have a balanced mind, a multi-interest life, and a calm reassurance even in times of emotional uproar around you.
To put this simply:
Prepare yourself (appearance, prayer, make a list)
Do whatever needs to be done, then do something you want to do.
Keep a notebook with a continual list of ideas and duties.
Rest, have tea time, read, practice daily happiness.
Sincerely,
Miss Lily-of-the-Valley
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