Wednesday, May 1, 2013

The start of "Heart to HEARTEN" is today!


Today I am launching a new writing project called Heart to Hearten. The project is merely this: write one hand written letter per day to one person for one year. Also, I will include a stamp in each letter for that person to send out another letter to someone else. The “person” I write to will change every day but the idea is to encourage someone in their own journey, as well as prompt them to spread that encouragement to someone else to multiply the effects.

The word “hearten” may not roll off your tongue as easily as the word “dis-hearten”, which we are, unfortunately, all probably more familiar with. The definition of “hearten” is to incite with courage or good cheer; to encourage. The action of to incite is simply a stirring or rustling of what already exists but may need an awakening. My prayer is to awaken a sense of courage and good cheer in every letter to those who may receive it through this project, just as those in my past have done for me when I have received a letter.

Hand written letters have been a part of my life since I was in fourth grade. I have consistently had a pen pal and/or someone to correspond with since that time. There has always been something personal and meaningful for me to receive a hand written letter from someone in the mail. The person took the time to share something with me in a way only they could, with part of who they are defined in the curves and formations of the letters on the page. Over the course of so many years, these letters have taken shape in different ways but the effects are profound. They have been formative in the design and creation of the silhouette defining who I am today as a person and as a writer. These letters have been building blocks in my own search to find courage and good cheer in every step of my journey of life.

My Prayer: Lord, this is a writing project inspired and impressed upon my heart by You to do. May it bring glory to Your name, and incite courage and good cheer in the hearts and lives of those receiving these letters that can only happen through the power of YOUR unfailing love!

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