Remember Reminder #16: There Are Many Ways to Say ‘I Love You’
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#rememberreminder: There Are Many Ways to Say ‘I Love You’
As I close my front door behind me, I hear my daughter Zoey’s feet before I even see her. She scurries across the kitchen floor and then jumps up into my outstretched arms.
“Yay,” she gently sighs as lays her head on my shoulder. “You’re home.”
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‘I love you’ can be said in so many different, wonderful ways, without even speaking those three words: Continue reading “Remember Reminder #16: There Are Many Ways to Say ‘I Love You’”
It’s late Sunday morning, and my daughter Zoey and I are dropping my father off at the airport. We have been lucky enough to enjoy two weekends with him this past month, so we feel downright spoiled, but our fun has come to and end: it’s finally time for him to head back home.
Zoey hops out of the car and steps into my dad’s arms. When he picks her up, Zoey’s arms and legs wrap around him so easily and so quickly, it’s almost as if this hug of hers is a muscle memory, the childhood equivalent of riding a bike or typing on a keyboard.
I stand next to the car watching Zoey, at her tiny head nestled gently against his shoulder. She looks at me, her face almost expressionless, and then she leans back and gives him a tiny kiss. After they exchange I love you’s, he sets Zoey down and gives me a hug. We stand shoulder to shoulder, and as we watch Zoey climb back into the car, my dad puts his arm around me, gives me a little squeeze, and says, “You’re doing just fine.” The slight nod of my head agrees with him. Continue reading “Remember Reminder #15: It’s Okay to Be Vulnerable”
I remember like it was yesterday: I’d be sitting in school, diligently doing the task at hand—practicing my letters or numbers, writing answers to questions in a workbook, or reading and taking notes—when all of a sudden, the teacher would ask a question. Around me, dozens of hands would raise, ready to provide an answer, and there I would sit.
Silent.Frozen. Unable to lift my own hand from my desk.
That feeling of dread became worse as I got older, when teachers found it more interesting to just randomly call out a student’s name instead of waiting for hands to raise. Don’t call on me, don’t call on me, don’t call on me would play on repeat in my head like a broken record as I tried to make myself smaller in my seat; in my mind, the more I shrunk, the easier it would be to become invisible.
As I child, I was a perfectionist in every sense of the word (admittedly, I still am), so my fear of saying something wrong prevented me from speaking up in school. I didn’t want anyone to think I wasn’t smart enough or good enough or that I wasn’t the perfect student that I so very badly wanted to be.
Because of this, during the 16 years I spent in a classroom, I probably raised my hand only a handful of times.I rarely let my voice be heard.
And funny, when you do something long enough,
it eventually becomes a habit. Continue reading “Remember Reminder #11: Speak Up”
Last October, Corey’s daughter, Zoey, told one of the best stories Corey had heard in a really long time (maybe ever): Zoey had been in gym class when Justin Timberlake’s popped into her head. Unable to help herself, Zoey started singing the song out loud, and, not caring what anyone else thought, she just didn’t stop.
The next day, Corey , and when she got an overwhelming response from friends and family, one of the original seeds for the blog was planted. The story then became one of the first Nostalgia Diaries posts (if you haven’t read it, you can check it out here; we think it will inspire you, as stories about Zoey tend to do…).
Zoey, still singing
Recently, someone commented on that early post, saying they couldn’t sing because it would make too much noise for the people they were living with. We responded that you can still “sing” without having to use your voice, because to just keep singing is not really about singing in the truest and most literal sense of the word. Though Zoey was literally singing to JT in her gym class, what she really was doing was what came naturally to her when she heard that song — that song that sang to her.
Singing Can’tStopthe Feeling meant she was just being herself. She could have just as easily started dancing, or doing cartwheels, or playing air guitar, or whistling, or clapping, or running, or painting pictures, or laughing. Zoey just chose to sing.
And that’s what today’s reminder really is all about: doing whatever makes you happy and being authentically and unabashedly you.
So just keep being who you are, or, in other words,just keep singing.
Talk to Us: How will you just keep singing today?
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And in case you want a daily reminder to just keep singing:
We post our Remember Reminder series on the blog here every Friday morning, as well as on our and accounts. Just search the hashtag #rememberreminder to find us! And if you have any of your own post-it note Remember Reminders that we should know about, make your own and use the hashtag so we can share the love!
At the The Nostalgia Diaries, our goal is to help you simplify, enhance, and engage your lives by focusing on the most important things: remembering, appreciating, believing, and becoming.It’s all about celebrating the past to create better days today.
P.S. Don’t forget to follow our colorful, creative spaces on , and . We’re fun and happy and whimsical and nostalgic over there, too. Pinky swear.
…To the background sounds of your day: Do you hear music filled with lyrics of happiness and laughter and love? Remember to be grateful. Do you hear songs of sadness and struggle and despair? Remember that you can do hard things.
Listen…
…To the voices of those who love you: Do they tell you that you are important? Do they tell you that you are everything? Do they tell you that you are enough? Remember to believe them.
Listen…
…When you want to speak: Do you learn something new? Remember silence can be a teacher.
Listen…
…To your heart: Do you hear it calling? Remember to answer and believe your heart is leading you home.
Listen…
…To stories of the past: Do you remember who you are and where you came from? Remember the importance of nostalgia. Do you want to live a simpler, happier, more fulfilling life? Remember to celebrate the past to create better days today.
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Today, remember to listen: No matter what it is you hear, we’re pretty sure it will be absolutely, wonderfully, amazingly, breathtakinglybeautiful.
Remember: “The word ‘listen’ contains the same letters as the word ‘silent’.” – Alfred Brendel.
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If you remember to listen today, what will you hear?
We post our Remember Reminder series on the blog here every Friday morning, as well as on our and accounts. Just search the hashtag #rememberreminder to find us! And if you have any of your own post-it note Remember Reminders that we should know about, make your own and use the hashtag so we can share the love!
At the The Nostalgia Diaries, our goal is to help you simplify, enhance, and engage your lives by focusing on the most important things: remembering, appreciating, believing, and becoming.It’s all about celebrating the past to create better days today.
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