Optimism trumps pessimism every time

This is your life, only you can truly control your choices, and choosing happiness is the best way to achieve being a good to yourself as well as the world. Here are some suggestions for how you can ensure simple joy in your life:

·  Be the best you can be by your own standards

·  Surround yourself with people who inspire you and make you feel good

·  Focus on what you have, not what you lack

·  Optimism trumps pessimism every time!

·  Smile often and genuinely

·  Be honest, to yourself and to others

·  Help others

·  Embrace your past, live in the present, and look forward for what is yet to come

February inspirations on how to be a good in the world

January 7- Scatter Joy All Around

Think about how you can create little moments of happiness for others. Helping a friend plant her garden, buying an extra coffee for your coworker, paying the toll for the car behind you on the bridge, even taking your kids to a movie.  All those little things can add up to BIG joy.

January 8- Operation Gratitude

I learned about his from my mom whose church regularly sends cards letters and care packages overseas to the armed forces. My mom and her fellow church ladies bake some of the best cookies in the world so they gather up all kinds of goodies and treats and send them overseas where the taste of “down home” surely brings many smiles of satisfaction. Those who are less gifted in the baking department, such as ME, can make $15 donation to Operation Gratitude, which pays for one care package for one serviceperson. Operation Gratitude has end over a million of these kindness kits around the world!

I was never prom queen but this I'll take!

My few years here at Cleis have flown by, always a sign you are having fun. I vividly remember getting my job the day before the stock market crashed in fall of 2008 and the recession began. I was worried my time at Cleis would be all-too brief. But, founders Felice Newman and Frederiqué Delacoste were unfazed having bootstrapped their way through two bankrupt distributors and countless banned books. Instead, we "doubled down" October 2008 and launched VIVA, expanded Cleis and I was encouraged for the first time to boldly pursue my publishing passion. For me, it is not enough to just chase dollars and treat books like "product." That, in fact, offends me. Inspired by a graduate course taught by KQED's Michael Krasny, I wrote "Women of the Beat Generation" to give voice to writers who had been kept in the shadows, ignored and overlooked. This same purpose drives me at Cleis Press & Viva Editions, as evidenced by the #OutWriters project. I go to a lot of our author events and it isn't to fill a seat or out of obligation. It is for me. Because I am moved when gay teens come to author events and tell our authors Jon Ginoli and Bob Mould that their music and writing saved their lives. Because Rachel Pepper's Transitions of the Heart reminds us to accept and love all our children. And that cancer survivor Mark Nepo's words on the page have helped thousands of others survive and thrive. I am gobsmacked, honored and humbled to be named Indie Fab Publisher of the Year. But mostly, I am encouraged to keep at it. Because there are many more voices we need to hear.