leaping on the bandwagon

Blimey, it seems Feb 29th is good fodder for bloggers...Blog Fodder, reminds me of an old Ned's Atomic Dustbin album...Anyway, sorry, random digression that probably only a very small handful of people will get anyway... I think almost every blog I subscribe to has managed to weave in something to do with it being a leap year into their posts today, and despite having only just written a new post myself last night, I felt a bit left out. So I have decided to launch myself wholeheartedly onto that there bandwagon, as I have so clumsily punned in the title of this here post.

However, given so much has already been said by so many on the subject of it being an extra day, a once in every four years chance, a day for ladies to propose to their men, I thought that rather than reinvent the wheel and try to claim I have any original thoughts on the subject, I would share my favourite bits of other things I've read today.

So here goes.

First up I quite liked this I saw from Innocent on Facebook a few days ago:

Innocent drinks

Exciting news. Our friends at the Department of Time are offering an unlimited number of our lucky drinkers the chance to win a free day this week. That's right - one whole day, absolutely free. All you have to do to take us up on this once-in-every-4-years offer is let us know what you plan to do with your free day. Claiming your prize is easy - just wake up on Wednesday 29th February.

Simple, fun, non-commercial and very Innocent. It made me smile.

Next up was Seth Godin's blog this morning. As it's such a short one I'll share it in full:

Leap year meditation

Once in four years, just once, perhaps we could:

Forgive, forget, relax, care, stand out, speak up, contribute, embrace, create, make a ruckus, give credit, skip, smile, speak truth and refuse to compromise--more than we usually do. Pick just one or two and start there.

Hey, it's just one day.

Careful, though, it might become a habit

His blogs are always brilliant, as you'd expect, you can find them or subscribe here http://sethgodin.typepad.com/. 

I particularly liked his message today though. I saw several things suggesting that today was a good day to try something new, turn over a new leaf  etc but I thought he managed to sum it all up perfectly in so few words.

There were similar thoughts captured in a daily message I receive from moodscope.com. Moodscope is a web tool that allows you to track your mood over time so you can start to spot any patterns and whatnot. I've been doing it for just under 2 weeks and am planning to review on here when I've been doing it long enough. Anyway, their post this morning was also about making the most of a free extra day by doing something different or spontaneous, whatever that might be. To really seize the (free) day and make it count.

But I think my favourite was one I received this evening from a company called F**k it... essentially workshops, retreats, books, a philosophy all around just saying "fuck it" to the shit that goes on in life as a way of letting go of stress et all...in other words a more down to earth less flaky way of looking at things like meditation, mindfulness, spirituality, awareness, acceptance, resilience and the like. Find out more at www.thefuckitlife.com

Anyway, whilst potentially a little saccharine for some, the general gist and intention behind their post was lovely, and so true.Well, for me anyway. It was based around the idea of ladies being able to propose today but with a twist that perhaps today we could all propose to love ourselves unconditionally. That normally our love for ourselves is conditional upon getting thinner, more successful, more popular etc which is quite harsh really. They propose instead we don't need a reason to love ourselves and they've written out a reworked marriage vows written to 'myself'. I don't know if this link will work but hopefully if you click on the below it should take you to their full post which is a lot better than my garbled re-hash!


http://thehillthatbreathes.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/y/F8E17BD427DBBD0A/BFA75E1B144440BC0B3A73003FEB3522


 This was my favourite of the day because not only did it make me smile, like innocent's, it made me nod along, like Seth's, but  it also made me stop and think a little more than any of the others. 


Anyway, enjoy the rest of your extra day whatever you're up to.