Have you ever been to a kindergarten graduation? Or maybe a preschool graduation? If you want some smiles - the good kind of smiles that make you have hope for the future - then you might want to drop in on one of those ceremonies sometime.
I went to one granddaughter's kindergarten graduation last night and will get to go to another granddaughter's on Friday. The one last night was at a small Christian school and the kids perform for their families. First they recited a Bible verse for every letter in the alphabet and then they sang songs. One was about bringing home pets and the kids really enjoyed singing that one's funny lyrics.
Children this age are always cute. They lose their hats when they get too wound up in doing the motions of their songs and then panic because they have been told to keep that hat on. They play with the tassels on the hats when they get bored with the whole proceedings. Sometimes they consider wandering away, but kindergarten teachers are very talented at keeping their ducks in a row. Last night, one of the little girls was obviously very shy. But she was a problem solver. She covered her eyes with her hands so she couldn't see everybody watching her when she went up to get her diploma. The only trouble with that is she couldn't see where she was going. So now and again she'd have to peek and that made her giggle. She was very cute.
After they handed out the certificates for completing kindergarten, the teachers gave every child another certificate as an award. We had best singers, best helpers, best a lot of different things. My granddaughter got the award for Enthusiasm. I told her that had to be one of the best awards to get. Enthusiasm can take you far and without it, life and work would be pretty dull.
"Enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration, motivation and a pinch of creativity." (Bo Bennett)
Without enthusiasm, writers like me might never come up with new stories. Enthusiasm is that big puff of wind that launches you on a project whether it's painting the living room, planting a garden, or writing a story. Perseverance is what keeps you going when that enthusiasm begins to ebb. But you need both. Right now I'm needing some enthusiasm to find the end of my work in progress and lots of perseverance. I can hear the characters talking on that last page, but I'm running through wet cement to get there.
"Enthusiasm is contagious. Be a carrier." (Susan Rabin)
Maybe I should have hung around my granddaughter a little longer. Hope you are feeling enthusiastic about what's going on in your life right now. Thanks for reading.
Reminder - The time to sign up for my giveaway is running out. If you haven't entered and would like to be in the drawing, let me know. It runs through the end of May and the 5 winners will have their choice of one of my books.
"Enthusiasm is contagious - and so is the lack of it." (Unknown author)
Here I am with Carlton Hughes, the teacher who brought his digital photography class to Shaker Village last Friday to practice their skills. Carlton is a college professor who does this one class for the high school in Harlan County. He also started a book club for some of his students and they were reading my book, The Outsider. I met Carlton last summer at the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference in Elizabethtown.
(By the way, I'll be teaching two workshops there again in June. "Dialogue - the Fizz in Fiction" and "Facts in Fiction - Using History in your Story" If you're interested in attending, you can check it out on their website. http://kychristianwriters.com Bestselling author, Cecil Murphey will be the keynote speaker. I've heard he's a fantastic and enthusiastic encourager to writers across the boards.)
Anyway, Carlton was teaching at KCWC last year too and I liked him from our first hellos. Enthusiasm fairly radiates from Carlton so it's no wonder his students do so well and pay attention when he teaches. Another quote I found was "Knowlege is power and enthusiasm the switch." (Steve Droke) That's Carlton. He has the knowledge and even better the enthusiastic switch that can make others ready to hook into that knowledge. As you can see in the photo below a lot of his students wanted to take the field trip with him to Shaker Village.
I had the opportunity to look at some of the digital shots a couple of the students had taken. Very nice. I did find it interesting that more of the pictures were of the donkeys, horses and ducks than of the buildings. But there's that enthusiasm need again. The young people took photos of what they were enthused about. When I'm there I'm always wanting to take pictures of the buildings and the brooms and things that shout Shaker to me. And of course, that beautiful double staircase in the Trustees House where the kids are all posing on in the picture below. I think they are on the Brothers' stairs. I think the brothers always used the east doors and stairways and the sisters the west. Unless I've got it backwards. I would have had to learn my directions better if I'd been a Shaker. :o)
So now I'm working to be enthusiastic about my new Shaker novel with the approaching deadline. Not nearly enough words written yet. Unfortunately I'm still feeling my way along the story as if I'm walking in a dimly lit tunnel and having to feel the brick side walls to keep going. But I'm sure I'm going to see the light at the end of the tunnel soon. I'm really hoping when I do see it, it's not a train!! I'll just keep in mind this quote from Dale Carnegie. He knew how to find success and how to share that success enthusiastically.
"Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success."
How important do you think enthusiasm is for you? And what are you the most enthusiastic about?
"You can do anything if you have enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes rise to the stars." ~ Henry FordI came across this great quote on Facebook the other day. I started to repost it, but then I wanted to say more than the FB police let me say. I always want to say more than the FB police will let me say. I make a game out of weeding out unnecessary words and letters on my posts. I don't know if I could ever get a tweet done, but I'm thinking about trying it just to practice brevity. And being enthusiastic about it.~~I'm a bread baker. I got some sourdough starter years ago and have been making bread ever since. I like making bread. I like eating bread. And my grandkids like making bread too. You can see the enthusiasm in the faces of these two dough kneaders. Of course with the enthusiasm my grandchildren show for kneading the bread, the floor and cabinets get dusted liberally with flour and sometimes their fingers get covered in gooey dough. But there is just something about kneading dough and then watching the yeast in it make it rise. ~~That's what I liked about the quote - the idea of enthusiasm being yeast to make your hopes and dreams rise and take wing. If you can't be enthusiastic about your own hopes, then they're going to be like those grocery store helium balloons. Up for a while and then gradually losing air and sinking lower and lower until you can't find a hope anywhere. ~~Oh, but enthusiasm can work wonders. And it's sometimes catching. One person's enthusiasm can shake awake another person's enthusiasm. And pretty soon the whole stadium is cheering. Or everyone on the team is playing his or her heart out. Or the whole church is on fire for the Lord. Or one author is sitting in front of her computer hitting keys as fast as she can to make words spread across the empty screen. Or a reader is telling all his friends about the great book he just read. ~~It's easy to be enthusiastic about some things. Grandkids! New books coming out! The Seeker and then Angel Sister to start out the new year. New characters and new ideas! I'm grabbing hold of some enthusiasm to help me start writing Shaker number 5. You can do anything. That means it's going to do more than get me started. It's going to push me through the middle doldrums and right on past the panic of finding the perfect ending. Enthusiasm. I can do anything if I have enthusiasm. It's going to make my hopes rise the way my bread loaves do sitting on the counter next to a warm stove.~~Hopes and dreams? Find the ones that wake your enthusiasm and you can do anything. Do you believe that is true. That if you want something badly enough...
