Welcome to Mirth and Motivation!
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Hello world!
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Viktor E. Frankl
Hello world: Welcome to Mirth and Motivation!
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Respite Reminder: I’m Taking My Advice. Will check occasionally. Back soon!
Welcome to Mirth and Motivation!
Mirth and Motivation is a lifestyle and motivational blog offering an eclectic mix of mirthful and motivational pieces: Life Tips / Advice, Affirmations/Wellness, Women’s Lives, Food, Travel, Interviews, Inspirational posts, Reviews, Peace, and social media ruminations on people, places, and events that shape our lives. That said, I invite you to stay awhile, read some posts, and share your thoughts with this growing online blog community.
I started this blog 17+ years ago, as a way to help agents/staff at the company I worked for stay motivated. This was my first blog post on this site, hence the dodgy title. After the market crashed and we were downsized, I decided to keep it going. Therefore, the main goal was, and remains, to encourage myself and others to keep moving forward. It has been a long and rewarding journey.
WHAT HAVE I LEARNED?
Over the years, I have learned a lot about blogging, its many positives and pitfalls, and how important it is to stay focused on our own Why or raison d’être. We can choose to focus on one of the fundamental rules of blogging: making connections with others by adding value through our message/content, comments, and social interactions. We can also choose to turn our attention elsewhere. It is entirely up to us.
Nevertheless, one thing I know for sure is that if your heart is invested in what you blog about, you will stay the course. Remember to stay true to who you are and why you blog. It can’t just be about monetization. Add value. Help others. Stay Encouraged.
Another thing I know for sure is that we all want to be heard, appreciated, and respected; empowering messages are far more appealing than incendiary attempts to attract blog attention. If your blogosphere surfing brings you here, relax, kick back, and share a positive tidbit on your worldview.
HOW DO WE STAY MIRTHFUL AND MOTIVATED?
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Motivation Mondays: Remembrance Ruck
“To recognize the service, sacrifice, and contributions of the post-9/11 generation of veterans, service members, and military families while honoring those who are no longer with us.” NYC.gov Event Charter detailing the tribute’s scope.
Motivation Mondays: Remembrance Ruck
“We ruck so we remember. We remember so their legacy lives on.” 9/11 Ruck to Remember Official Motto
“For many of our veterans, carrying a ruck was a part of their everyday service. A symbol of resilience and endurance.” Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani
The Weight We Carry: Walking in Remembrance Across the Brooklyn Bridge: On a rainy Sunday morning, September 13, 2026, over 1,000 folks from around the city and beyond gathered at Walt Whitman Park (Cadman Plaza) to participate in the inaugural, city-sponsored NYC Remembrance Ruck. The NYC Department of Veterans’ Services organized the event in partnership with New York Road Runners. Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani joined us as more than 1,000 New Yorkers gathered despite a heavy downpour to complete the route. The event honored the service and sacrifice of the post-9/11 generation of veterans, service members, and military families, and remembered those who are no longer with us.
Over 1,000 participants and I walked with weighted backpacks from Brooklyn’s Walt Whitman Park (Cadman Plaza), crossed the Brooklyn Bridge, and concluded our journey at Foley Square in Manhattan. Many of us carried gallons of water in our backpacks, which the event organizers provided. Some carried extra gallons by hand. Many military personnel carried their rucksacks; some were fully and heavily loaded.
It was a solemn and poignant event as we signed in, gathered in the park, and watched a small group of military personnel perform Military Funeral Honors. Then we heard speeches from Mayor Mamdani and several of his commissioners, each sharing beautifully how important the occasion was and why we must honor those who served and remember the lives lost. They read the names of those being remembered, and we observed a moment of silence afterward. (See uploaded videos TBD)
Soon after, we started our walk toward the Brooklyn Bridge, headed into Manhattan, with Foley Square as our final destination. It was a 1.5-mile walk, and it went by pretty quickly as we trudged along in the rain. The Brooklyn Bridge has an incline, but we were fine, as the rain washed away our weariness and cleansed us in ways far deeper than we even understood.
People from all walks of life were there: the young, the older, parents with children, military personnel, runners, walkers, and more. We all came out in remembrance of those lost and in honor of the veterans, service members, and families whose lives were shaped by service after 9/11.
To me, the rainfall was the tears of angels joining us to recognize all who served in many capacities before, during, and after 9/11. I connected with several people, and we all agreed it was worth getting drenched because those being honored had carried burdens far greater than our own. Some made the ultimate sacrifice; others continue to carry the lasting weight of service. We remember them. We honor them. We will never forget.
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“No day shall erase you from the memory of time.” Virgil, The Aeneid
25 Years Later Remembering the Lives Lost on September 11
CNN10 Special Edition: Remembering 9/11, 25 Years Later
September 11: The Names We Carry
Twenty-five years later, we remember. We honor the nearly 3,000 lives lost on September 11, 2001, and hold close their families, friends, colleagues, first responders, survivors, and all whose lives were forever changed by that tragic day. Billy Collins’ profoundly moving poem The Names reminds us that behind the enormity of 9/11 are individual human lives, “citizens, workers, mothers and fathers,” daughters and sons, each with a name, a story, and people who loved them. Its quiet beauty gives language to a grief that still lives in our collective memory and reminds us why we keep saying their names.
The words/quote above by Virgil are permanently displayed in the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, with letters forged from recovered World Trade Center steel. The Museum describes the quotation as expressing the promise that those who were lost will never be forgotten. Do visit the 9/11 Memorial & Museum when you visit NYC. It is highly recommended. Remembering 9/11 and the loved ones of all who lost their lives on that tragic day. Read the poignant poem below. We remember. We honor. We will never forget.
The Names – Poem by Billy Collins via Poem-Hunter
Yesterday, I lay awake in the palm of the night.
A soft rain stole in, unhelped by any breeze,
And when I saw the silver glaze on the windows,
I started with A, with Ackerman, as it happened,
Then Baxter and Calabro,
Davis and Eberling, names falling into place
As droplets fell through the dark.
Names printed on the ceiling of the night.
Names slipping around a watery bend.
Twenty-six willows on the banks of a stream.
In the morning, I walked out barefoot
Among thousands of flowers
Heavy with dew like the eyes of tears,
And each had a name —
Fiori inscribed on a yellow petal
Then Gonzalez and Han, Ishikawa and Jenkins.
Names written in the air
And stitched into the cloth of the day.
A name under a photograph taped to a mailbox.
Monogram on a torn shirt,
I see you spelled out on storefront windows
And on the bright unfurled awnings of this city.
I say the syllables as I turn a corner —
Kelly and Lee,
Medina, Nardella, and O’Connor.
When I peer into the woods,
I see a thick tangle where letters are hidden
As in a puzzle concocted for children.
Parker and Quigley in the twigs of an ash,
Rizzo, Schubert, Torres, and Upton,
Secrets in the boughs of an ancient maple.
Names written in the pale sky.
Names rising in the updraft amid buildings.
Names silent in stone
Or cried out behind a door.
Names blown over the earth and out to sea.
In the evening — weakening light, the last swallows.
A boy on a lake lifts his oars.
A woman by a window puts a match to a candle,
And the names are outlined on the rose clouds —
Vanacore and Wallace,
(let X stand, if it can, for the ones unfound)
Then Young and Ziminsky, the final jolt of Z.
Names etched on the head of a pin.
One name spanning a bridge, another undergoing a tunnel.
A blue name needled into the skin.
Names of citizens, workers, mothers and fathers,
The bright-eyed daughter, the quick son.
Alphabet of names in a green field.
Names in the small tracks of birds.
Names lifted from a hat
Or balanced on the tip of the tongue.
Names wheeled into the dim warehouse of memory.
So many names, there is barely room on the walls of the heart.*This poem is dedicated to the victims of September 11 and to their survivors. Billy Collins
“No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance.” Martin Luther King Jr.
Motivation Mondays: 10 Facts Why Labor Day Is More Than the End of Summer
1. Labor Day began with American workers. The holiday grew out of the late-19th-century labor movement and was created to recognize the social and economic contributions American workers make to our country.
2. Labor Day honors American workers. It celebrates the socio-economic contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of the country
3. The first Labor Day celebration happened in New York City. On September 5, 1882, approximately 10,000 workers gathered for America’s first Labor Day parade. They marched through Manhattan, then joined their families for a picnic, concert, and speeches.
4. We aren’t completely certain who came up with the idea. Two labor leaders, Peter J. McGuire and Matthew Maguire, have been credited with proposing a holiday for workers. More than 140 years later, historians still debate which man deserves the distinction.
10 Facts Worth Knowing About Labor Day
Labor Day: 10 Facts Why Labor Day Is More Than the End of Summer: Every year, we celebrate Labor Day on the first Monday of September. This year, we celebrate Labor Day on September 7. For many of us, Labor Day means a three-day weekend, backyard barbecues, family gatherings, sales, travel, and one last opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of summer before autumn settles in. Still, Labor Day has always meant something more. It is a day set aside to honor work and the people who do it. The original celebrations weren’t simply about having a day off. Early Labor Days included parades demonstrating the solidarity of organized labor, followed by festivals for workers and their families. Speeches later became an important part of the observance.
What do you know about Labor Day? Many workplace protections Americans now take for granted grew out of the broader labor movement. Organized workers and reformers fought over generations for improvements involving wages, working hours, workplace safety, child labor, and other working conditions. In addition to the important Labor history that shaped the world of work and opened doors for women, immigrants, and countless others who had been sidelined over the years, this day marks the celebration and collective effort of workers, laws/lawmakers, and activists who fought to ensure that we remain safe at our workplaces, that children are not forced to work, and that adults are not relegated to work in dingy, unsafe settings for dreadfully low wages. Throughout this post, I have added some facts worth knowing about Labor Day.
