Tag: friendships

“A little consideration, a little thought to others, makes all the difference.” – Eeyore

About three weeks ago, I opened my laptop to start working and clicked on a Facebook message. A friend that I’d known from Miss O’s pre-school days had died. I burst into tears. It couldn’t be. She’s ten years younger than I am, her youngest child is only 11 years old. She loved being a mom more than anything and I couldn’t believe that she wouldn’t be there to see her beloved kids grow up.

And moreover, because I’d seen the posts where she’d had a car accident about nine months previous and then complications had kept coming up, I was bereft because I hadn’t done anything but post a couple of comments. She wasn’t someone I was particularly close to, but I had so much respect and adoration for her.

It hit me especially hard because I was also in the middle of reading Amy Weinland Daughter’s book, Dear Dana. Dear Dana, is a beautiful chronicle of a letter writing campaign – and a thoughtful reflection of how social media does and does not work for us when it comes to real relationships.

On the latest episode of the How to Share podcast, I was lucky enough to be able to talk with Amy about Dear Dana and the incredible insights she gleaned. Amy tells us how her project got started when she saw on Facebook that her friend from summer camp 30 years before had a son who was sick and needed prayers. Amy starting writing them letters.

She explains how this effort blossomed into a project to write each one of her 580 Facebook friends a letter. We talk about the level of effort involved in writing that many letters and how it was transformative for her.

Amy shares some of the research around the benefits of writing and we talk about the insights of what she learned about the benefits and limitations of social media in the process of her project. One of my favorite a-has is that we can use social as a jumping off points for real relationships because we lose the richness if there is no investment in relationships.

We talk about God-whispers and how listening to them can help us participate in making this world a better place. Amy’s perspective is so real and inspirational that I know it’ll leave you feeling motivated.

This is an incredible episode with a powerful story and loads of magic. I know you’ll love it.

Takeaways

• The most changed participant in the writing process is often the writer themselves.
• Writing doesn’t require formal skills or extensive practice.
• A simple act of writing can have a significant emotional impact.
• All you need is a postage stamp and a human heart to express yourself.
• The power of writing has always been within us, waiting to be discovered.
• Engaging in writing can lead to personal growth and transformation.
• You don’t need to write hundreds of letters to make a difference.
• The act of writing can break down barriers to communication.
• Everyone has the potential to express themselves meaningfully.

Here’s an incredible clip from Amy reminding us that it’s never too late to care:

Here are some ways you can watch this amazing and inspiring episode:

• The podcast player embedded below
• Click this link to watch in a browser: How to Share Impactfully with Social Media Friends with Amy Weinland Daughters
• Subscribe to How To Share on Spotify, Amazon Music, or Apple Podcasts
• Subscribing to the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@howtosharepodcast

Please listen, watch, provide feedback and subscribe.

When Your Plan Falls Apart | How to Stay Resilient and Keep Trying – The Life of Try: Personal growth, one try at a time.

When a plan goes wrong, how do you stay calm, resilient, and brave enough to keep trying? In this episode of The Life of Try, Wynne Leon shares the story of a chaotic family travel day from Paris to England—missed trains, wrong directions, tired kids, unexpected costs, and the kind of uncertainty that can make anyone want to give up. Through this real-life story, Wynne explores how adaptability, creative problem-solving, gratitude, and “one next step” thinking can help us recover when our best-laid plans fall apart. Inspired by Professor Angus Fletcher’s work on resilience and alternative plans, this episode is for anyone navigating change, setbacks, anxiety, mishaps, or the messy middle of trying something new. Listen in for a warm, honest reminder that trying does not require certainty—it only asks for movement, one breath and one new plan at a time.📚 Topics Covered• Personal Growth• Self Improvement• Building Courage• Motivation• Taking Action• Making Plans• Overcoming Fear• Growth Mindset• Resilience• Opportunity Creation• Gratitude• Life Lessons• Personal Development• Inspirational Storytelling━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🔔 Subscribe to The Life of Try for weekly conversations about resilience, courage, creativity, reinvention, mindset, and living with intention.📌 Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel & Stay Updated ABOUT MEHi, I’m Wynne Leon — host of The Life of Try, a personal growth and self-improvement podcast exploring resilience, reinvention, uncertainty, and the courage to keep trying.Through thoughtful interviews, reflective conversations, and real-life stories, I share insights to help you navigate change, get unstuck, and move forward with more intention.🌍 Website: https://wynneleon.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🎥 Watch Next➡️ How to Create Opportunities in Life | Motive + Means = Success Mindset➡️ Encouraging Effort, Not Results | How to Build Resilience and Confidence➡️ How to Celebrate Small Wins | Tiny Habits, Resilience & Personal Growth🔗 CONNECT WITH ME:• Website:→ https://wynneleon.com/• Instagram:→ https://www.instagram.com/wynneleon/• Facebook:→ https://www.facebook.com/wynne.leon/ • Amazon: → https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B002IKWX14

1. When Your Plan Falls Apart | How to Stay Resilient and Keep Trying 10:03
2. Barbara Nickless on A Voice In The Dark, Online Gaming and The Power of Story 29:40
3. Embracing What Makes You Different | Kym Gordon Moore 27:53
4. Motive + Means = Opportunity: A Life of Try Story 12:14
5. How Writing Helps Us Survive Chronic Illness and Loss 20:34

Links for this post:

How to Share Impactfully with Social Media Friends transcript

Dear Dana on Barnes & Noble and Amazon

Amy’s website

(featured photo from Pexels)