Summerbreeze makes me feel alive

Thursday, July 24, 2008

July has been one heck of a busy month! It was a lot of fun and I now have a good idea of the direction I want to take Letters of Love. I would like to write up a monthly newsletter, since things have begun to speed up and I want to keep everyone included and up to date. (:

After missing our site for two long months, Letters of Love and Scars Can Speak is finally back online! You can now once again read and comment on the Scars Can Speak blog at lettersoflove.net. Also, our long missed Community is back up! We've been having really open and honest conversations there, about ourselves--our stories and what we've been through--as well as everything else under the sun! You can come talk with us at lettersoflove.net/community. I am really enjoying getting to know everyone and having such amazing conversations.

In the Community, we've started two regular things: the Question of the Day and Stacey's daily Good Morning! Every day, I post a question that you can answer however you like. You can reply right there, or you can write a blog about it. (Just remember to link to it for us so we can read it!) Stacey started posting a daily Good Morning to tell us about what she has planned for her day and to give us all the opportunity to share what we have planned for our days. I am really excited about these two new things and think they are a lot of fun.

Another thing going on in the Community is the tracking of our chain letters. You can follow the Goals Chain Letter and help track it in its forum, and you can follow the Secrets Collage Chain Letter and track it in its own forum.

We have also started a new chain letter! The 50 States, 50 Letters Challenge is different from your average chain letter. We are trying to send letters to soldiers in all fifty (U.S.) states! You can claim a state at any time. Soldiers need love too!

Speaking of chain letters, we have lost track of the Goals Chain Letter. If you have it, please let us know in the Goals Chain Letter forum.

One of the biggest things that happened to Letters of Love this month was being invited to guest star on Rising Above Radio! Jenna--who is one of the sweetest people I know--asked me to talk about Letters of Love for her show, which she just started a couple of weeks ago to interact with her Rising Above Magazine readers. The show aired live Tuesday night but is up and archived now if you missed it. You can listen to it on the Rising Above Radio page. (: I talked about Letters of Love and self-injury--something that I feel is very important to talk about. It was hard to talk about my experiences, but I think it was worth it. I got a lot of positive feedback and have even met a few new people because of it! This episode will be available to listen to on lettersoflove.net very soon.

Jenna has also started blogging with us on Scars Can Speak! You can read all of her posts on the Scars Can Speak Jenna Kandyce Linch archive page. Our other Authors are Bre, Brooke, Meghan, Stacey, Veronica M., Veronica P., and myself.

Before I sat down to write this issue, I spent this evening finishing up some letters. If you've been waiting for one, they will go out tomorrow morning! I also started writing letters with a few new pen pals, and started writing letters again with an old friend. I think, secretly, my mission is to make snail mail popular again! (;

I would like to invite anyone who would like to start blogging on Scars Can Speak to send me an email at elizabeth@lettersoflove.net. Just tell me your name, a little about you and why you would like to blog with us and I'll get you set up right away!

If you would like to begin exchanging letters with a pen pal, you can request a letter in the Community.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and getting plenty of beach time! Keep an eye out for next month's issue of NewsLetters of Love!

Smile and remember that you are LOVED!

     ♥Elizabeth