Hello, Friday Fools! 

Oh, how I've missed you! 

But, where to begin? Well, I missed National Emoji Day and I'm sure you're wondering how I let that happen. Can't rightly say--combination of things and an odd series of events somehow wrapped up with mental wheel spinning and general cluelessness. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️ The apex of the wheel spinning was last week, but is was magically shifted by emoji nail stamping (who knew there was such a thing?) and slightly skewed case of Pareidolia. Top that off with the support of some good friends.

The nail stamping post was a meandering of my mind and somewhat therapeutic for me. It probably could use another draft or two, but see horse GIF below--I changed it up so many times that yet another draft was not in the cards. I'm sorry. Grab a hot bev, it's long-ish. The bottom line is, I sorted some things out as well as embraced allowing and being open to the mystery.

Part of the struggle was my Learner and Input strengths (CliftonStrengths)--they've been in overdrive. I might even be as bold to say, engaging in a kind of Mortal Kombat. (😂the trailer!) Learner and Input fighting to the mental death.

I've been taking in info, churning it like butter but not giving any of the butter away. 🐄  Then there were some ingredients that didn't belong...Okay, that was a strange analogy--I've had a lot of mental Chicki Chatter and haven't created much output. (@chickimokes is my Twitter handle that I rarely use but if you do, talk to me, Goose. I'm open 🤗)  

I've also been at odds with what's right in front of me, kind of like Marie from When Harry Met Sally. (Sans her affair/marriage issue--it's all me dealing with me 🙄 I think her cluelessness is hilarious. My own cluelessness? Not so much...but isn't that always the case?)

But, back to emojis. For those of you who didn't get the full "50 foot emoji" experience from last summer, I've included a screen shot for you. I had Newsletter plugin issues and the emojis took on a life of their own. It was a crap shoot as to what form the emojis would take in people's inboxes--it varied widely.

Below are the super-sized variant. I was somewhat attached to keeping the newsletter emojis because they bring me great joy, but by this point things were becoming ridiculous (even beyond my usual Tomfoolery). Thankfully, Lisa Norman and Newsletter tech Michael worked their magic on them. She was committed to fixing them because a) she's The Fixer and b) she told me, "They're your thing."

OMG--they are my thing! 🥳

I used to think emojis were a little ridiculous in the early days. Maybe because there were only yellow Lego-like faces, I don't know. But, somewhere along the line my feelings toward emojis shifted. Then a few years ago I started using them like crazy in texts (and pretty much everywhere I can) and haven't slowed down since. I've embraced them (I'm sensing a theme here...)

Anyhoo--National Emoji Day was July 17th. I got all fancy and worked my digital calendar with a yearly reminder!

I know that might not mean much to all you savvy folk out there, but I'm a pen and paper gal. (My boys call me a boomer. Let me tell you--that got old, quickly.) But you should see the reactions I get when I pull out my paper calendar!

Priceless.

I either got the Ugh,who are you? look 😒 with the Valley Girl tone of voice 

OR

OMG--I love it! 👏🏼

If you'd like to try a similar social experiment, try paying with dollar bills and coins. The coin part is key...

At any rate, let's do some celebrating next year 🥳

Did I mention it's July 17th? Mark 'em. We're doing this. 👊🏼🌟

Speaking of celebrations, as soon as I opened up and paid attention the celebration gods were smiling upon me, because this week we had National Milk Chocolate Day (7/28) and National Lipstick Day (7/29), just a few of the things I 💜. But the biggest boon is Tomfoolery today (7/30): National Friendship Day!

🥳🥳🥳

Chief will laugh at me, but... 

It's a sign!

I needed to get back in the saddle no matter how ugly it looked. So here I am, Rock You Like a Hurricane. 😁 Ugly and all.

(I'm tempted to say, actual footage of me, ⬇️...dramatic yet accurate) 😂

In celebration of you, dear readers, I'm including this snippet about friends from James Clear's newsletter:

Longevity researcher Dan Buettner on the health benefits of friendship:

"I argue that the most powerful thing you can do to add healthy years is to curate your immediate social network. In general, you want friends with whom you can have a meaningful conversation. You can call them on a bad day and they will care. Your group of friends are better than any drug or anti-aging supplement, and will do more for you than just about anything."

Source: The Power of Positive People​

I'll happily admit that I have some very good friends as well as some lovely acquaintances with whom I can have meaningful conversations. My family would probably add the random stranger on the street, much to their dismay. Many of you read The Tomfoolery--not random strangers, but feel free to tell them 😉.

In all seriousness, you are a life-affirming bits of awesome (some of you are also squirrel whisperers who talk me out of my tree) and I am very grateful for all of you. This, whether or not I know you personally.

Happy National Friendship Day!

If you want more connection, you can give me a holler, anytime. I'll get back to you. In fact, I'd love to hear from you. 🤗 Hit reply or find me on some social...

Funny story: You'll have to use all three names (or one of the many buttons I've scattered around on my website and at the bottom of the newsletter) because if you use just my first and last you'll either find a "saloon girl" (thanks for that search and phrasing, Caren! 😂) or a body builder. I searched after she told me about the saloon girl and found my pic in close proximity to said body builder's barely clothed butt pic in the Google image gallery 😳 There are just some things you don't need to see or put up with to support and connect with your author friends. Just sayin'.

One last item. I've talked a lot about emojis; the nail stamping post touches on perspective and seeing "faces" differently; and then there's Pareidolia: essentially, it's seeing faces in things.

If you want to read a magical book about a woman's personal journey with talking to trees and seeing faces in them (I didn't do it justice but that's an element of it and I'm trying to keep the digressions down to a low roar, people), check out my friend Nancy Houser-Bluhm's book, Whispers for Terra. Her protagonist has a life-altering journey and if you love the earth, you might enjoy the conservationism in it. The protagonist's life was needing a change (read the story). That change came about in a magical way.

For me, things got ugly then there was perspective shifts, allowing, and clarity followed by celebrations (missed and otherwise). I just needed to fall off the saddle and get back on, my friends, and I'm very glad that you're here with me. Dramatic falls and all. 🐴

With that, I hope everyone is well and that you find something funny, curious, or thought-provoking to brighten your days. 

Take care and thanks for reading The Friday Tomfoolery. I really appreciate it!

~Ami 💜