Love Me

Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you. Love me and I may be forced to love you. ~William Arthur Ward

Enthusiasm For Life

Hair: Amacci, Klara Free *PEACE ON EARTH HUNT* . Jewelry: Exquisite, Falling Hearts set free *Peace On Earth Hunt* . Shoulder Pieces: Zibska, La Vie En Deaux **Gothmas by Gaslight* http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sium/189/225/1002 .

As you go about your travels and get closer and closer to the holiday, please take a moment to think about others. Whether it’s to drop penny’s in the bucket of a bellringer (Salvation Army) as you exit a store, or just to phone someone you know will be alone. Sometimes it’s the littlest of inconveniences that truly mean the most. So when you are buying “things,” toys that will eventually go unused, clothes that may or may not be liked, electronic gadgets that will be obsolete in a year or so, as you go about and pour your money into these endless unfulfilling voids, stop and think a moment. Could money be better spent? How about adopting an elephant? ( http://www.saveelephant.org/ ) or inworld, Eliza Wierwight Link How about throwing a gift to the JimmyV Organization where 100% of you donation funds cancer research? (www.jimmyv.org ) Shoot, I’d reckon most have forgotten about Typhoon Haiyan, think about their struggles daily, they probably forgot all about the holidays just trying to survive. How about sending them the gift of hope for Christmas? ( http://www.salvationarmy.org/phl ) I’m sure any of these charities would appreciate the help and I guarantee, your gift to them would never become obsolete, unused, unwanted, or discarded.

Outfit: Mohna Lisa Couture, Allure free *Peace On Earth Hunt* . Shoos: Miamai, Natur’A *L’Accessoires* .

We so often say someone is going to “get what they deserve” when they act badly. But the truth is it works with kindness too. Did you know research shows when you are kind to others, even if it’s just to acknowledge them with a “hallo,” it’s been shown to not only increase their happiness, but yours as well. More importantly though, kindness is contagious, so the person you were kind to is more likely to “pay it forward” to the next guy and so on and so forth. You plant a seed of kindness, the roots take hold, the limbs spread out further and further, along the way new trees of kindness are formed. Just imagine how wonderful the world would be if we lived in a forest shaded by comfort and kindness.

Outfit/Hair: Irodori, Harmony, free *Peace on Earth Hunt* . Tree/Blocks: Zen Creations, Peace on Earth tree scene, free *Peace on Earth Hunt* . Other decorations: (tree/sleigh/bags) Storax Tree, Potted Holiday tree/Holiday Delivery/Crazy Holiday Bags/Winter Rug .

Take from? Yes, in the words of Coach Jimmy V, a NC State coach who lost his battle with cancer, “you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. And you have to be willing to work for it. But most of all, don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.” Well, I have a dream, a goal and I won’t ever give up, even though it is a lofty dream. In my lifetime I have a goal of saving the elephants, curing cancer and helping others. And this holiday I hope to make my dream infectious. Because you know what’s infectious during the holidays? Kindness, hope, generosity, gratitude, forgiveness, and faith. Life isn’t perfect, but sometimes, just sometimes, if we don’t ever give up, all will work out for the best. You just have to have faith.

A Hero Ain’t Nothin but A Sammich

Hair: Amacci, Klara **PEACE ON EARTH**. Hat: Sonatta Morales *8*, Peace Bird **PEACE ON EARTH** . Both FREE!

I know, I know. I completely stole that title from Alice Childress’s 1973 novel for young adults. What can I say, creativity isn’t coming on strong this holiday season. But it seemed perfect for this topic because I’ve learned that sometimes during tragic events a person you would least likely expect to be the hero, is. I talk a lot about how our “us” “them” frame of mind discourages true harmony in our lives. Kind of weird, in this case, I found my own thinking could have been of the “us” sort, in other words, God forbid I am one of “them.” It is known the mall massacre in Nairobi Kenya was taken out by an Al Qaeda-linked Muslim terrorist group, but this isn’t about that story. This is the story of a Christian missionary woman who decided to take her children to the mall to entertain them a few hours.

Earrings: *SoliDea FoliEs*, DaDa **L’ACCESSOIRES** .

Soon after the family had eaten lunch, the two older boys wandered downstairs to a department store, the mother and three daughters (I believe aged 1,2 and about 5) began to wander down to meet the boys but before getting very far, the shooting started. Taking the natural flight response, she grabbed her girls and hid under a flimsy kiosk and for the next four hours lived with the very real terror of trying to keep her girls silent, worry for her sons, and watching the terrorists walk by shooting any live or injured person they would see. Elsewhere in the mall, a man phoned his brother and asked him to pray for him because a group was violently taking over the mall. I am sure the brother said the prayer, but he also decided to go try to rescue his brother. My bother (yep meant to spell it that way) probably would have watched it unfold on TV and leave the law enforcement to, um, law enforcement.

Dress: Sonatta Morales *8*, Peace Bird **L’ACCESSOIRES** .

But this brother, arrived at the mall and as he was set to enter the mall from the parking garage, he received a call from his mall bound brother saying he was out and safe. The thing is, the man could have just backed away, gone to meet his brother, and went home. He chose not to, this brave man, he went in and eventually saved this Christian woman and her daughters.

Shoos: Miamai, Natur’A **L’ACCESSOIRES** . Hair: Amacci, Klara **PEACE ON EARTH**

The take from? I can hate the actions of Al Qaeda as much as the next person, much of what they do seems a senseless waste of innocent life. But this nagging “us” and “them” mentality? Well, it’s good to remember, things aren’t always as they appear. We should always strive to see people by their face value, not senseless labels, because the Hero? The fellow not even at the mall when it was raided? He was Muslim. Just a happy ending to think about, if you have the time on this busy holiday season.

It Don’t Mean Nothin

A gift from Skip Staheli when he learned of my fathers passing

I actually have an outfit to blog, but I think I am going to let it wait until next week. I have a lot of Peace on Earth Grid Wide hunt ( http://peaceonearthhunt.wordpress.com/ ) I want to show too. I hope you have a chance to go hunting, there is so much really cool stuff around this year and at 0 Lindens, how can you possibly go wrong? I hope you will go to the Lybra Opening Celebration tomorrow at 3PM at the Salimar Luxury District, ( http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SaliMar/95/127/502 )
the creations I saw have a lot of luxe and riche detailing in the most scrumptious shades of red. Please don’t forget the precious elephants either! Last I checked we had adopted 5 elephants so far! YAY! It’s really a creative thing because you pay 500L’s for the Christmas topiary decoration and 100% of the proceeds go to the Not for Profit. More details on this blog: http://anchailinalainn.com/2013/12/03/picture-books/ So please, buy, buy, buy, because I couldn’t imagine a world without elephants, could you?

The concept was a Spring Fairy who releases the butterflys every spring bringing about renewal. Photographer: Skip Staheli

Now I am going to sign off for a few days, I’ve family arriving from all around the country, details to see to and real life to breathe in. I know saying goodbye doesn’t really mean anything, it’s the years we celebrated life together that will matter, but I am so weak at times. So emotional, saying goodbye to anyone you have known since you first opened your eyes as a baby, well, it hits you hard in the gut. ‘ell saying goodbye to friends and acquaintances is hard too. Like most things in life, incidents and events, your emotional recollection of them tend to fade, but the soulful impression of your life’s joys and pain firmly imprint in crisply devout detail and never completely extinguish.

A Doll Learns She’s not Real becomes a Doll Misses her Father

Take from? They say men don’t know how to say goodbye and women don’t know when to say it. And right at this moment, I believe it must be true. The details of a funeral? It don’t mean nothin but a celebration, a rebirthday of sorts, I suppose. Because these friends, acquaintances, and family that pass on before us? They never really leave us, their fingerprints are printed lightly across our hearts.

A Butterfly Wonders if There is a Heaven

Nothing to Do But Smile

Hat: Lode, Elix **L’Accessoires** . Hair: Vanity Hair, After Dark **NEW** . Necklace: MiWardrobe, Sunspot **L’Accessoires** . Makeup: HMAEM, (just buy them all!)

Happiness is our original nature, it is what we feel from the first moment we gaze lovingly into the eyes of a parent, make a new friend at school, receive the gift of someone’s love. True happiness is knowing yourself and staying true to your nature, those little things you love, what inspires you, what makes you so uniquely you. The strange thing is, if you forget who you are, or try to change who you are for others, you begin to actively search for happiness, even though it’s well springs from within you, not from out in the world. Not unlike our bodies contain DNA, your body has spiritual DNA that makes up what makes you happy. So when we stop obsessing about our weight, our relationships, or even our lives, we allow ourselves to be happy because we realize the happiness we will “get” when we have the dream job, or the right “guy”, or enough money, that happiness is already within us. We were born with it, we’ve just done our damndest to smother it over the years with our worthless expectations. Face it, we are all imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed, and uncontainably beautiful.

Dress: Lybra from The New RED collection from Lybra – launch date 3PM SLT, December 13, 2013 at the Salimar Luxury District . Taxi: //maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SaliMar/95/127/502

How do we get it back? Like most things in life we practice. Identify your most important relationships and make a conscious commitment to being the most loving person you can possibly be. Your intention to love and be loved is the single most crucial key to happiness, because think about it, there is no difference between happiness and love. They emotionally feel the same. A major step in this new intention to love? Gratitude and forgiveness. The phenomenal thing about gratitude is it shifts your perception, you go from an unhappy darkness with little to feel grateful for to a new dawn, one filled with thankfulness. The best part is, the more you practice gratitude your brain changes to one filled with hope and in turn it changes your perception of the world.The easiest way to learn to practice gratitude, is to express it and the funny thing is, expressing it plants a kernel of happiness in others that has the possibility of growing to an entire forest of delighted contentment and pleasure. But, let’s not forget, the co-partner to gratitude is forgiveness. Happiness is easy and natural until the moment someone causes you pain. It is impossible to hold on to a gripe and be happy because well, have you ever heard of a happy victim? Nope, me either. Besides, holding on to that grudge is just a decision to keep on suffering, and who the heck wants that? Not me. Where resentment is a ball and chain, forgiveness, that’s been known to set you free. When you grieve over something that happened in the past, you miss out on the happiness available in the now.

Clutch: BeLod, the Wonka Clutch **KV’s Tribute to Wonka event** . (Hiding it from Peep, she’d try to eat it)

The take from? Yep, thanks for hanging in this long, I think Draakje Dailey left after the first sentence. Happiness may seem to be something of your childhood, but you truly can get it back. The good news is, it is never too late to be present and to really show up in your life. Consistently remind yourself, you are the architect of your own life and at those times you find you can’t remember the last time you were happy, just remember, to renovate your heart, you have to go back to the drawing table, draw on the possibilities of those things you are grateful for, erase away the things that need forgiveness, prepare just for today and smile because no one can make you happier than you can make yourself. Well there ya are, the Cao has decided life didn’t happen to me, it is unfolding happily before me. The pain of this month will pass because I am grateful for all I have, which by the way, includes all of you.

Don’t miss this event on Friday! I’ve seen the line and it’s amazing!